Epidemiological and occupational profile of anesthesiologists practicing in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais--Brazil, in 2010.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Exposed to many occupational risk factors, the anesthesiologist should know how to experience situations related to work and everyday life, so that illness is not part of his reality. Knowledge of work through the worker himself is one way to look deeper into the universe surrounding health professionals in order to seek effective solutions that increase satisfaction and minimize damage. The objective of this paper was to outline an epidemiological and occupational profile of the anesthesiologist in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. METHODS Quantitative, cross-sectional randomized study conducted among members of the Society of Anesthesiology of Minas Gerais. Data collected through a questionnaire, including the CAGE, for evaluation of alcoholism and Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ-20) to evaluate the prevalence of common mental disorders (CMD). RESULTS There was predominance of male (62.4%) working on-call schedule (91.1%), both day and at night. The average number of night shifts was 5.4% in the last 30 days. Most of them (88.3%) working in emergency departments. Most professionals reported being very tired and overloaded or very overloaded, but satisfied with the work. There was statistical association between CAGE positive and work overload and between CAGE and SRQ-20. CONCLUSIONS The population studied indicates that the anesthesiologist is a professional rather overloaded, which corroborates trends seen in the medical field. Major attention should be given to these professionals who live surrounded by harmful occupational hazards.