Self-perception of health of police personnel in activity in the city of Deán Funes, Province of Córdoba, 2022

Abstract

The security forces are predisposed to health problems (cardiovascular, metabolic and mental health pathologies, etc.) caused by a sedentary lifestyle due to excessive working hours, inadequate nutrition, excess weight, stress, long working hours with rotating shifts that reduce free time and generate conditions for the adoption of unhealthy habits and lifestyles. Self-perception of Health (SA) is a subjective measurement that integrates biological, mental, social and functional factors of the individual and is linked to a reliable measure of general health status and individual and collective health worldview. Objective: To characterize the self-perception of health and its influencing factors in active police personnel in the city of Deán Funes, Province of Córdoba, year 2022.

A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study. was conducted N=182 officers of both sexes, non-probabilistic sample, for convenience, n=160. Inclusion criteria: Integrate active body of the city police of Deán Funes. Give consent to participate in the study. Instrument: Ad-Hoc questionnaire, structured and self-administered, not validated, with closed answers of one or more options. SPSS 26 data analysis.

Mean age 31.47 years, standard deviation ± 7.06. Very Good Health 26.6%, Good Health 53.1%, Regular Health 16.9%, Bad Health 3.8% and Very Bad Health 0.6% (n=1). 73.75% do not present disease, 26.25% declare to have diagnosed pathologies. According to BMI, 42% perceived normal body image, 38.8% overweight, 5.6% underweight. In figures, 9.4% of grade I and 3.8% of grade II obesity were found. 77.5% do not have physical limitations to perform their work, 14.4% reported feeling it sometimes, 8.1% declared having it. Physical limitation increases in frequency along with seniority in the force. 39.4% had their last general health check-up more than a year ago, 32.5% in the last six months, 15% in the last twelve months, 13.1% in the last month.

The majority of agents self-perceived a positive general health status (very good and good), in accordance with the absence of diseases. AS, in addition to reflecting the global health status, provides information for the implementation of health promotion and disease prevention programs.