Custos indiretos do adoecimento mental em uma instituição federal de ensino superior

Abstract

The relevance of the economic impacts of Mental and Behavioral Disorders (CMD) among workers is a worldwide phenomenon and relates to the processes of capitalist modernization. Absenteeism as a consequence of mental illness has been identified as increasing worldwide, so it poses challenges for society and managers. From this perspective, cost of illness studies are important auxiliaries for reflections in this field. Thus, this research aims to estimate the indirect economic costs resulting from mental illness morbidity among federal civil servants, Administrative Technicians in Education (TAEs) and Professors of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), between January 2013 and December 2018. To this end, an ecological study of disease costs, retrospective longitudinal design and exploratory nature was carried out, using information obtained from the SIAPE SAÚDE database, which gathers information on work leave and retirements resulting from the illness of federal public servants. The Human Capital Approach was used to estimate the indirect cost, using salary values and disability data. Data extracted from SIAPE SAÚDE revealed that the servers had a total of 140,150 days of sick leave between 2013 and 2018. CMD accounted for the largest number of days of leave granted throughout the study period (40,417 days) and generated more leaves in both careers in relation to the other diseases that led to work leave. The CMD resulted in a total indirect costs, plus those related to the number of lost workdays due to absenteeism and disability pensions, of R$ 13,934,942.16 during the study period, being the highest among all causes. The average proportion of employees suffering from mental disorders that resulted in sick leave during the six years studied was approximately 2.88%, this proportion being higher among TAEs in all years. It was found that an average of 3.94% female employees were removed during each year by CMD, while among men this average was 1.85%. Psychiatric diseases were the third leading cause of disability retirement (five cases or 15% of the total). Indirect costs due sick leave were estimated at R$ 12,498,067.17. The largest indirect costs of sick leave were primarily due to mood disorders, R$ 7,266,885.42 or approximately 58% of these costs, and anxiety disorders, R$ 4,433,540.87 or approximately 35% of these costs. Mental disorders ranked fourth among disability retirement costs, with an estimated cost of R$ 1,436,874.99. Therefore, this study demonstrated the relevance of CMD to the community of employees of the studied institution, as well as revealed the dimension of the economic impacts resulting from the incapacity of these workers. The conclusions allowed by the research and the availability of the data obtained will allow the managing bodies and professionals involved with the health of the federal public servant, a better understanding of the costs of mental illness, directing them to the planning of more correct interventions. Moreover, this study may be an initial step towards the construction of a body of evidence that demonstrates the potential economic return of interventions in the field of mental health of Brazilian workers.