Assessment of psychosocial aspects of work in Brazil in the context of worker health: a scoping review

Abstract

Objective: to describe the dimensions of the assessment of psychosocial aspects of work (APST) in Brazil found in the literature and normative documents. Methods: this is a scoping review that included the of scientific papers in the Virtual Health Library of Brazil, Web of Science and Medline databases, published from 2017 to 2021. Gray literature was also included, being characterized by documents from the Brazilian government with guidance or indications to evaluate APST. Results: 58 articles and 22 government documents were included. Of these, 75.9% are cross-sectional quantitative studies. The health area stood out as the main field of study, as well as the category of nursing professionals. Regarding government documents, 63.6% were classified as technical support materials, most of which focused on worker’s health and surveillance. Discussion: most of scientific studies understand APST as aspects related to occupational stress, mainly referring to the demand-control model. The association with health outcomes, especially burnout, stood out among the scientific papers. Despite presenting conceptual and methodological frailty regarding APST, government documents presented the Ergonomic Activity and Psychodynamics of Work as the main theoretical references. Conclusions: academic knowledge, legal standardization and technical support should be made closer on the evaluation of APST to strengthen VISATT.