Abstract
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine the self-care skills of residents and preceptors affiliated to the Family and Community Medicine (FCM) and Multiprofessional Family Health Residency (MFHR) programs in the state of Paraíba - Brazil as well as to investigate the association between self-care and the practices of these professionals in Primary Health Care (PHC). FCM residents are doctors in postgraduate training, while MFHR residents are allied healthcare professionals in postgraduate training. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach and a census-type sample of 300 professionals. Data was obtained using an electronic questionnaire applied in the second half of 2023. Descriptive, bivariate (Chi-square and Fisher's exact) and logistic regression analyses were carried out. The grouping variable "self-care" was found to be associated with sociodemographic and work-related variables, physical and mental health conditions and professional practice. RESULTS: The majority of participants were female (69.3%), had no partner (53.4%) and no children (75.7%). Half of the professionals (54.0%) had self-care skills, which were associated with the perception of their state of health as very good or excellent. Among the doctors, 36.4% and 7.7% declared that they were overweight and obese respectively, and the prevalence rates were similar for multi-professionals. More doctors said they had a mental disorder (46.9%) than did the multiprofessionals (31.5%) (p = 0.022). Professionals who took care of themselves felt "very motivated" to provide guidance on the subject in the service (p = 0.006); they developed more health education projects (p = 0.042) and had more professional experience in the prevention and management of obesity and chronic diseases (p = 0.026) than those who did not take care of themselves or took care of themselves sporadically. CONCLUSION: Health professionals' self-care skills in their personal lives were associated with their motivation to provide guidance on self-care to the population that they assisted in PHC. Our findings point to the need for actions and policies that encourage self-care among health professionals, given that this could have a positive impact on their areas of work.