Advances in understanding mental diseases, from a bio-psycho-social perspective, have widened therapeutical resources and, thus, promoted the use of multidisciplinary approaches as well as the creation of services to replace traditional psychiatric hospitals. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that studies be performed on the satisfaction and overload of mental health service staff members as a means to systemizing evaluation processes and improving service quality. In the present study, staff members belonging to inpatient and outpatient mental hospitals in the city of Ribeirão Preto answered WHO's scales on mental health staff satisfaction (SATIS-BR) and impact on work (IMPACTO-BR), and Lipp's Stress Symptoms Inventory (ISSL) with the aim to investigate the levels of satisfaction, overload, and professional stress. Of the total 172 individuals who took part in this study, 136 were hired professionals, and 36 were psychiatry resident physicians. Data collection was performed in six psychiatric units, of which three were from the same university hospital (one day hospital, one psychiatric ward, and one short stay ward). The other three units were a center for psychosocial care and two psychiatric hospital units, one for female and the other for male patients. Results for the sample of hired professionals showed an average satisfaction score of 3.26 (range between 1 and 5), with higher scores for the factors "Service Quality" and "Relationships at Work", and lower scores for the factors "Work Conditions" and "Participation in the Service". Significant differences were observed between two units of the same hospital. For this same sample, the average overload score was 1.85 (range between 1 and 5), and the results from administrating the ISSL showed that stress occurred in 23% of the participants, who were most in the residence phase, with a prevalence of psychological symptoms. Overload scores and stress incidence were higher among resident physicians, compared to hired professionals. A negative correlation was observed between satisfaction and overload results. Continuous and regular service evaluations are needed in order to monitor satisfaction and burden of the staff, with the aim to improve services, while providing staff members with quality of life, and patients with better care.

ARTIGO ORIGINALAs escalas podem ser acessadas no site www.lapsam.ufsj. RESUMOObjetivo: Os níveis de satisfação e sobrecarga de profissionais em serviços de saúde mental afetam tanto a sua saúde e o bem-estar quanto a qualidade do cuidado prestado aos pacientes. Para avaliar estas dimensões, é necessário ter acesso a escalas de medida válidas e fidedignas. Este artigo visou descrever um estudo da validade de construto de duas escalas de avaliação da satisfação (SATIS-BR) e da sobrecarga (IMPACTO-BR) de profissionais em serviços de saúde mental. Métodos: As escalas foram aplicadas a uma amostra de 172 profissionais, que trabalhavam em seis serviços de psiquiatria de uma cidade de porte mé-dio de São Paulo. A validade de construto foi avaliada a partir do teste da hipótese de que deve haver uma correlação significativa entre dois construtos teoricamente relacionados. Para isso, foram feitas análises estatísticas correlacionais de Spearman entre as escalas de satisfação e sobrecarga, assim como uma comparação de dois subgrupos de sujeitos, com e sem indicativo de estresse, com relação aos seus graus de satisfação e sobrecarga no trabalho. Resultados: Obteve-se correlação significativa negativa esperada entre os escores de satisfação e sobrecarga (r = 0,38). Obteve-se ainda a diferença significativa entre dois grupos de sujeitos, com e sem estresse, com relação ao grau de satisfação e sobrecarga no trabalho, sujeitos com estresse apresentando níveis mais baixos de satisfação no trabalho e grau mais elevado de sobrecarga. Conclusões: Conclui-se que as escalas analisadas apresentam validade de construto e são adequadas para monitorar a qualidade de serviços de saúde mental. A escala de sobrecarga constituiu um preditor do estresse apresentado pelos trabalhadores em saúde mental. ABSTRACTObjective: Satisfaction and burden of professionals in mental health services can affect their well being and also the quality of the care they provide to the patients. In order to evaluate those dimensions, it is necessary to have access to valid and reliable measure scales. This study describes Recebido

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Psychiatric residents in this study suffered higher levels of job burden and stress than other healthcare professionals, suggesting the need for changes in residency programs to deal with this issue.