Distúrbios do sono de Agentes Penitenciários

Abstract

Introduction: Studies have associated the work of correctional officers to hazardous effects upon their health and well-being. However, little attention has been given to the effects of that work on the quantity and the quality of the sleep. Objective: To estimate the prevalence and factors associated with severe sleep disorders in correctional officers in a prison complex in Salvador, Bahia. Methods: A cross-sectional design study with all 374 correctional officers of a prison complex in Salvador City, Brazil. Using a self administered questionnaire, information was gathered about sociodemographic and occupational data, living habits, Common Mental Disorders, and quality of sleep of the correctional officers. Information about sleep disorders were evaluated by ysing the Mini Sleep Questionnaire. Common mental disorders were evaluated by using the Self Reporting Questionnaire-20. Data collection occurred from September to December, 2018. The prevalence ratio of severe sleep disorders was calculated. A Cox multivariate regression model was used to calculate prevalence ratios for each associated variable. In the final model, only predictors that presented adjusted prevalence ratios (PRaj) ≥1,30 remained. Results: The prevalence of severe sleep disorders was 55.3%. The adjusted prevalence ratios showed that the severe sleep disorders were strongly associated to the number of activities that cause stress and tension in the work (PRaj varying from 1,79 to 1,58), number of situations of violence experienced at the workplace during the last 12 months (PRaj in increasing gradient from 1,11 to 1,33), refering that the work intervenes in his/her physical health, common mental disorders (PRaj ≥2,02), and skin color not White (PRaj ≥1,36). The effect of shift work was controlled, and it was not strongly associated to the outcome (PRaj ≥1,15). Conclusions: The high prevalence of sleep disorders in correctional officers was associated to many factors, particularly the situations of violence that chatacterize the occupation and the impairment of physical and mental health.