Association between psychosocial work features and common mental disorders among informal workers

Common mental disorders (CMD), characterized by signs and symptoms such as insomnia, fatigue, irritation, forgetfulness, lack of concentration and somatic complaints, are an important public health problem the world’s population. Psychobiological damage and potential sickness, psychosocial work features have been considered psychosocial work stressors with significant impacts in mental health. This cross-sectional study aimed at assessing the association between psychosocial work features in informal work environments and the CMD occurrence in urban dwellers in Feira de Santana (Bahia, Brazil) aged 15 years or older. Data on household sociodemographics, occupational features, psychosocial work aspects and mental health were gathered by means of questionnaires. The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and the Self- Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) were used to assess psychosocial work aspects and CMD, respectively, whereas univaried, stratified multiple logistic regression analyses were the statistical procedures employed. Overall CMD prevalence was found to be 27.9%. Higher prevalence CMD rates were found in groups with high strain demand (36.4%) and passive work (30.5%), whereas groups with low strain demand showed a prevalence of 21.9%. Logistic regression procedures revealed an association between psychosocial work features and CMD: workers in groups of high strain (PR:1.54; CI: 1.25–1.89) and passive work  (PR: 1.25; CI: 1.01–1.56) showed higher CMD prevalence rates than the low strain group after adjusting for age and sex, across logistic regression. Since these findings demonstrate the importance of work arrangements for the workers’ mental health, an increase in the control of work activities and a redimensioning of the psychological work demand is urged.