Problemas álgicos entre Agentes Comunitários de Saúde de Coari - Amazonas

Abstract

Introduction: pain problems are one of the main health problems in the general population. Its magnitude can vary according to its origin, population and conditioning factors. Community Health Agents (CHAs) play an important role, but work-related factors (work overload, exposure to the sun, rain, long distances traveled during visits) can contribute to the magnitude of pain problems. Objective: to evaluate the prevalence of pain problems among Community Health Workers in Coari, Amazonas. Method: this is a cross-sectional study carried out with the population of CHAs in the urban and rural areas of the municipality of Coari, Amazonas, including 215 subjects. The information on the main pain problems among CHAs was taken from the database collected for a larger project entitled “Health and therapeutic practices among Community Health Workers in the municipality of Coari - Amazonas” (data collection took place between January and June 2018), which is divided into three sections (sociodemographic information, health problems and medication consumption). The data was analyzed using absolute and relative frequencies with SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) 22.0 for Windows software, while allopathic medicines were classified using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification (ATC) system. Results: of those interviewed, 61.0% were aged between 18 and 39, with a female predominance of 64.7%. Of the 215 CHWs, 117 (54.4%) work in rural areas of the municipality, in 116 different communities, while 45.6% work in urban areas, in 13 UBS. The prevalence of pain problems was 79.5%, specified in 22 subgroups, with cephalalgia (headache) (39.8%) standing out as the main pain complaint affecting CHAs. As for the medicines most commonly consumed, analgesics stood out with 67.6%. Conclusion: the study showed a high rate of algia among community health agents in the municipality of Coari, which makes it important to know the problems reported so that measures can be taken to ensure the health and well-being of these professionals who act as intermediaries between the individual and the health service