Introduction:

The frequency of depressive symptoms among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic was high. However, little evidence includes support workers, those who do not directly provide healthcare.

Objective:

To identify the prevalence of depressive symptoms and their levels, as well as the associated factors, in Brazilian healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method:

This is a cross-sectional, analytical, and quantitative study, conducted with 108 healthcare workers (from direct care and support workers) from January to May 2021, using non-probabilistic sampling. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale was applied to identify the symptoms of depression. Data were analyzed using absolute and relative frequencies for variables related to sociodemographic, healthcare service and occupation, self-perceived health, factors associated with the risk of COVID-19, clinical history, and depressive symptoms. Association tests were applied, and prevalence ratios were estimated with a confidence interval of 95%.

Results:

The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 51.9% (95% CI = 43.1%-63.7%), with the extremely severe level being more frequent (16.7%, 95% CI = 8.8%-22.5%), mainly among workers who do not work directly in care (35.7%), compared to those who assist patients (12.9%). The prevalence of depressive symptoms stands out among workers with fair/poor/very poor self-perceived health (88.0%), diagnosis of mental disorder (81.2%), continuous use of medication (63.0%), and use of psychotropic drugs (69.6%).

Conclusion:

Depressive symptoms were predominant among healthcare workers during the pandemic, with extremely severe levels occurring more frequently among support workers. There is a need to focus attention on the mental health of healthcare workers according to specificities, mainly occupational, to minimize the occurrence of depressive symptoms.