Abstract

Introduction

Working in a care setting is characterised by an increased mental and physical load. During their professional life, personnel in this sector can develop essentially degenerative pathologies, which could influence their professional career as well as their psychological balance.

Objectives

We aimed to evaluate the impact of chronic pathologies on the prevalence of anxiety and depression among this group.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study in hospitals in Sfax using a self-administered questionnaire. This questionnaire evaluated socio-demographic, professional, and clinical characteristics as well as an evaluation of the degree of anxiety and depression by the HAD questionnaire.

Results

Our population consisted of 120 participants. The average age was 37 years, with a female predominance (a sex ratio of 0.69). The chronic pathologies found in the participants were mainly diabetes (18%), high blood pressure (4%), and rheumatic disease (6.7%). The average anxiety score was 8.18± 3.5 and that of depression was 9.02± 3.5. Certain depressive and anxious signs were found in 28.4% and 23.6% of participants, respectively. Although the average scores for anxiety and depression were higher in the subgroup of personnel with chronic pathologies (respectively, 9.8 versus 9.04 and 9.3 versus 8.46), these differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05).

Conclusions

Physical and mental health are both important to ensure a balanced life. Having good control of somatic illness can improve mental health.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Details

Title
Chronic diseases among paramedics and their impact on mental health
Author
Sellami, I 1 ; Feki, A 2 ; Remadi, N 1 ; Kotti, N 1 ; Masmoudi, M L 1 ; Hammami, K Jmal 1 ; Hajjaji, M 1 

 occupational medecine 
 rheumatology, Hedi Chaker Hospital, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia 
Pages
S433-S433
Publication year
2023
Publication date
Mar 2023
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
ISSN
09249338
e-ISSN
17783585
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2880520184
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.