ANÁLISE DA UTILIZAÇÃO DE MEDICAMENTOS PSICOTRÓPICOS POR SERVIDORES PÚBLICOS FEDERAIS DE UMA UNIVERSIDADE DO INTERIOR DE MINAS GERAIS EM PERÍODO DE TRABALHO REMOTO

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.04423031117

• Palavras-chave: Psicotrópicos, Teletrabalho, Uso de medicamentos

• Keywords: Psychotropics, Teleworking, Medication use

• Abstract: Remote work was implemented in Brazilian universities during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, in which employees were moved from their usual place of work to their homes. This study aims to analyze the use of psychotropic medications by federal public servants at a university in the interior of Minas Gerais during a period of remote work. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive and exploratory study, with a quantitative approach. The research was carried out at a federal university in the northeast of Minas Gerais with 183 permanent employees, who remained working remotely from March 2020 to April 2022. To this end, an instrument was used containing the following items: use of at least a psychotropic medication, gender, age, marital status, position, weekly hours, medical indication for use during the remote work period, and, if so, which medications and whether there were positive and/or side effects and what they were. The variables were presented using the descriptive statistical method and the data resulting from the analysis were compared with the scientific literature. It is worth highlighting that 53 (28.6%) used psychotropic medications during the period of remote work; that the majority of employees who used them were women, who worked 40 hours a week and who had a doctor's recommendation to use them. It was also identified that the most used medications were antidepressants and the association between antidepressants and anxiolytics. Furthermore, 48 (91%) had positive effects and 26 (49%) had side effects, namely: drowsiness, weight gain, loss of recent memory and tachycardia. The use of psychotropic medications on employees of a public institution during a critical pandemic moment may have raised vulnerabilities that led to such use.