A saúde dos recrutas na carreira de bombeiros militares de MG no período da pandemia de COVID-19

Abstract

The firefighter profession is one of the most dangerous and complex, mainly due to the nature of its tasks. Assignments such as first aid, firefighting, rescue can generate exposure to physical and mental exhaustion above the conventional and favor illness throughout the career. Several studies have been carried out in order to assess the health status of military firefighters. However, few studies have attempted to investigate the health of firefighter recruits who have just joined the corporation. Added to this, COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to the worsening of the health conditions of the recruits compared to the other two admission periods (2014 and 2017). The objective of this study was to analyze the social demographic characteristics, chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) and lifestyles of firefighters recruits who joined in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to previous years. A cross-sectional study was carried out using the database of a longitudinal survey called the Firefighter's Health Study (FHS). Social demographic characteristics, chronic non-communicable diseases and lifestyle were evaluated using a self-report questionnaire applied in the first week of admission. A total of 504 recruits participated in the study in 2020, 493 in 2017 and 573 in 2014. The recruits admitted in the year 2020 entered at an older age and lower income compared to those who entered in 2014 and 2017. In the year of the COVID-19 they exhibited worse conditions of health and the presence of CNCD, in particular low back pain, depression and anxiety (p≤0.001). Low back pain had a prevalence of 10.3% in the recruit population, while depression and anxiety 13.9% in 2020. As for their lifestyles, there was an increase in alcohol consumption, overweight and obesity, use of psychiatric medication and sleep disorder in relation to the ones who joined in 2014 and 2017 (p≤0.001). Regarding to smoking, there was no significant difference in the pattern of cigarette consumption by recruits compared to other years (p ≥0,05). It is concluded that, when investigating the three entry periods of entrants, there was a worsening in the health conditions of the firefighters recruits in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) compared to the years 2014 and 2017. These data will be important to promote institutional health policies to promote possible adjustments in the work process aimed at the well-being of professionals. Through the longitudinal follow-up of the health present in the studied institution, attention should be given to recruits who entered in worse conditions than others from previous competitions. In addition, more investigations should be conducted to increase the understanding of the influence of the coronavirus disease on newcomers, which will make it possible to propose approaches to control or minimize the effects of this condition.