Análise epidemiológica da saúde mental de professores universitários no cenário após pandemia de coronavírus em uma cidade do interior de minas gerais – Brasil

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about several changes in educational institutions worldwide. Many questions arose from these changes, one of which is whether they could affect professors' mental health. This study aims to determine the prevalence of common, non-psychotic mental disorders in higher education professors from public and private institutions, in different programs after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in a municipality of the Minas Gerais countryside in Brazil. This is a cross-sectional study, with data collected through self-administered forms and questionnaires, sent by email and social media to the departments through the institutions affiliated with the study. Variables, such as changes in methodology for distance learning, age, gender, years of professional experience, study program, and a self-administered questionnaire for screening common non-psychotic mental disorders (SRQ-20), were analyzed. The study showed that, of the 129 participants, 49.6% are women, 68% are married, and 52% also teach graduate programs; 69% are dedicated exclusively to teaching; 14% reported dissatisfaction with the teaching profession and 61% with remuneration; 92% used remote teaching during the pandemic; and 19% underwent psychiatric treatment before the pandemic and 19% were undergoing treatment at the time the survey was conducted. It was also observed that 100% reported having been vaccinated against COVID-19 and 26% feared returning to on-site classes. Regarding mental health assessment, 37 professors (28.6%) presented a score higher than 7 points on the SRQ-20. The highest scores consisted of positive correlation analyses for dissatisfaction with the profession, remuneration, and past and current treatment for psychiatric disorders. Based on the data collected, a high percentage of professors with probable mental illness after the COVID-19 pandemic was detected. There are few studies on this subject within this group of professionals. Therefore, it is essential to study the process of work-related mental illness to develop intervention strategies that reduce mental disorders by promoting actions on risk and protective factors, improving the quality of life of professors. Keywords: COVID-19; mental health; university professors.