Introduction

Healthcare workers are exposed to many psychosocial risk factors. These have consequences at an individual and organizational level. Occupational health psychology applies the principles of psychology to the protection and promotion of workers' health and well-being. Here, it can act at the organizational level, with interventions that improve the working environment, and at the individual level, providing individuals with resources to deal with different types of settings. It was in this context that the occupational health service of a Lisbon hospital center decided to incorporate a psychologist into its team.

Objective

To describe a sample of health professionals referred for a psychology consultation, looking to generate hypotheses about characteristics that may constitute risk factors for needing this support.

Methodology

This is a descriptive study in which the sample corresponds to the group of workers that was referred to psychology, over seven months. The following symptoms were assessed: depressed mood, thoughts of death, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. All the data came from the clinical records of the psychologist and the occupational medicine physician, obtained through a clinical interview, and were previously anonymized.

Results

A total of 47 workers were followed in psychology appointments, corresponding to 1% of the hospital's population. The most prevalent professional group in the sample was operational assistants. Most of the workers reported having a previous diagnosis of psychopathology and 55% were still medicated. Only 15% of the workers identified work as a determining factor in their symptoms.

Discussion

There was a higher proportion of women compared to the overall population of the hospital, a finding that could be related to a greater risk inherent in the expectations imposed by society regarding the role of women as caregivers and the accumulation of functions in the social/family sphere. The "doctors" professional group is absent from the sample, hypothetically due to their lower attendance at occupational medicine consultations or the possible protection afforded to higher levels of education.

Conclusions

Contrary to the existing evidence, in this sample of health professionals from a hospital center in Lisbon, work was not the preponderant factor for the appearance of adverse health effects and determining follow-up in psychology consultations. In the future, the relationship between gender, educational level and professional group and increased risk of psychopathology should be tested more robustly.

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