Prevalence of anxiety disorders as a cause of workers' absence.

OBJECTIVE

to analyze the prevalence of various anxiety disorders among mental and behavioral disorders as a cause for the leave of absence of workers in the state of Piauí.

METHOD: transversal census-based study performed with data from the National Social Security Institute. Four-hundred twelve leaves of absence of workers due to anxiety disorders in the 2015-2016 biennium were included.

RESULTS

higher prevalence was found for mixed anxiety-depressed disorder (31.2%), followed by other anxious disorders (20.6%) and generalized anxiety (14.1%). Ages from 22 to 45 years old prevailed in the group of individuals with duration of absence greater than or equal to 41 days, with statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant association (p = 0.004) between rural activity and increased time of absence.

CONCLUSION

the study draws attention to the prevalence of "other anxiety disorders" as the cause of leave of absence, with emphasis on mixed anxiety-depressed disorder.