Risk factors for stress in professionals at the North emergency care unit in Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil

Emergency care units provide intermediate complexity care services, are open 24 hours a day, and are frequently required to attend to high levels of demand, especially so during the Covid-19 pandemic. On-duty shift work at emergency care units is highly conducive to causing excessive stress.

To identify the risk factors for excessive stress among workers at the North emergency care unit, in Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil.

A questionnaire was administered covering basic information and data on lifestyle to the workers at the unit, in addition to the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and a single-item instrument for diagnosis of stress.

It was possible to recruit 44 participants. It was observed that 57% of the participants exhibited stress and 31.82% had excessive sleepiness. Having more than one job, drinking alcohol, having attended higher education, and having excessive sleepiness increased the likelihood of exhibiting stress. There was a statistical significant association of very large magnitude between performing housework and exhibiting symptoms of stress (p = 0.028; r_ɸ = 0.36).

The high percentage of workers with stress found among the study participants reveals a need for measures to review their working processes, such as creating space for dialogue between workers and management or implementing shared management, with the objective of minimizing development of work-related disorders, with benefits both for the workers and the Unit.