Employment status, occupational profile, and common mental disorders among workers in urban informal settlements in Brazil

Abstract

Urban informal settlements (referred to as favelas in Brazil), reflect longstanding socioeconomic and racial inequalities and are home to a workforce frequently exposed to precarious employment conditions. This study describes the socio-occupational characteristic and estimates the prevalence of common mental disorders (CMDs) among workers residing in five urban informal communities in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. A cross-sectional epidemiological study (n = 587) was conducted with formal and informal workers aged 18–70 years. The outcome was measured using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire-SRQ-20, and associations were evaluated using Poisson Regression, with analysis stratified by employment type. Data analysis was performed using R 3.6.0 + software. The overall prevalence of CMD was 14.0%, increasing to 22.7% among informal workers. In the adjusted analysis of the overall sample, informal employment and persistent fear of job loss were associated with a higher prevalence of mental health problems, whereas the 40–49 age groups showed a lower prevalence of CMD compared with younger workers. In stratified analyses, female sex and job insecurity were associated with CMD among formal workers, while lower monthly income (<$181) was associated with CMD among informal workers. This pioneering study highlights the role of precarious employment conditions in the social determination of mental health distress among residents of urban informal communities.

Publication information

Originally published in PLOS Global Public Health on 2026-06-29. Original DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0006314.

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