versão impressa ISSN 1415-790X Rev. bras. epidemiol. vol.15 no.3
São Paulo Set. 2012 Paloma de Sousa PinhoI; Tânia Maria de
AraújoII Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia IIUniversidade Estadual
de Feira de Santana Common mental disorders (CMD) are more
frequent in women. Low reward and lack of visibility in
performing housework are the determining factors for these
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between housework
overload and the occurrence of common mental disorders in women
living in the urban zone of the municipality of Feira de
Santana, Bahia. METHODS: cross-sectional epidemiological study
that included 2,057 women aged 15 years or over selected by
random sampling in clusters. The housework overload indicator
was created from the domestic activities of washing, ironing,
cleaning and cooking, weighted according to the number of
individuals living in the home. The common mental disorders were
assessed using SRQ-20. RESULTS: Women with a high housework
overload had a higher prevalence of CMD than women wit