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Chronic diseases among paramedics and their impact on mental health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2023

I. Sellami ,
A. Feki ,
N. Remadi ,
N. Kotti ,
M. L. Masmoudi ,
K. Jmal Hammami  and
M. Hajjaji
I. Sellami*
Affiliation:
occupational medecine
A. Feki
Affiliation:
rheumatology, Hedi Chaker Hospital, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia
N. Remadi
Affiliation:
occupational medecine
N. Kotti
Affiliation:
occupational medecine
M. L. Masmoudi
Affiliation:
occupational medecine
K. Jmal Hammami
Affiliation:
occupational medecine
M. Hajjaji
Affiliation:
occupational medecine
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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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

Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 66 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry , March 2023 , pp. S433
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
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.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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