[Stress: diagnosis of military police personnel in a Brazilian city].
OBJECTIVE
To diagnose the occurrence and stage of stress among military police enlisted personnel and officers in the city of Natal (the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil), and to determine the prevalence of physical and mental symptoms.


METHODS
This cross-sectional descriptive study investigated a sample of 264 individuals from a population of 3,193 military personnel from the Natal police command. The data were collected between June 2004 and January 2005 using Lipp's Adult Stress Symptoms Inventory (Inventário de Sintomas de Stress para Adultos de Lipp). The research assessed: (1) presence of stress, (2) the stage of stress (alert, resistance, near-burnout, and burnout), (3) the prevalence of physical and mental symptoms, and (4) the relationship between stress and police unit, rank, gender, drinking, smoking, educational level, marital status, age, years of police service, and salary.


RESULTS
No stress symptoms were found in 52.6% of the sample; 47.4% had symptoms. Of the 47.4% of the police personnel with stress symptoms, they were distributed as: 3.4% in the alert stage, 39.8% in the resistance stage, 3.8% in the near-burnout stage, and 0.4% in the burnout stage. Psychological symptoms were recorded in 76.0% of the police personnel with stress, and physical symptoms in 24.0% of them. Of the variables investigated, only gender was related to stress (P = 0.0337), with the female police personnel being more likely to suffer from stress.


CONCLUSIONS
The levels of stress and symptoms do not indicate a critical situation of fatigue. However, it is recommended that the police take preventive actions, including implementing an effective program for the diagnosis of, training on, and control of stress.
Costa
Marcos
M
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Departamento de Educação Física, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Brasil. maac@ufrnet.br
Júnior
Horácio Accioly
HA
Oliveira
José
J
Maia
Eulália
E
D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016495:Police; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014505:Urban Population