Introduction Workers’ depression is an increasing concern for occupational health. Latin American researches have evaluated workplace psychosocial. Less is known about associations with working-hours schedules. This research was aimed to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms associated with unconventional job schedules in industrial and artisanal fishermen in Ecuador.

Materials and methods 111 industrial (response 100%) and 122 artisanal fishermen (response 80%) were invited to answer a questionnaire, applied by a trained interviewer, in Manabí, Ecuador. Depressive symptoms in previous two weeks were evaluated with a validated version of Patients Health Questionnaire-9 items (PHQ9) each item scoring 0–3, total scale score from 0 to 27; cut-off=5. Job schedules were evaluated through a tailored set of questions including shifts, night work, hours per week, time of stay in the sea and rest period while in the sea. Other variables considered were socio-demographics (marital status, number of children, educational level). Adjusted logistic regression models were calculated to estimate Odds Ratios.

Results Both groups were similar in educational level and number of children. Industrial fishermen were older and lived more in couples, compared to artisanal ones. Industrial also had less employment security, they worked longer shifts and they had less rest periods in the sea. Artisanal had less formal job contracts. Depression was more prevalent in industrial fishermen (36.0% vs 19.7%, p<0.001). Longer time of stay in the sea showed a non-significant association with depression in both groups (OR 1.56 [0.61–4.04] for stays from 1 to 60 days, and 1.58 [0.52–4.72] for stays longer than 60 days). Adjusted model showed a significant association of depression with lack of rest periods in the sea (OR 11.5 [2.3–57.4]).

Discussion Depressive symptoms may increase in workers who have unconventional work schedules and without rest periods during the shift. Fishermen are exposed to such working conditions, mainly in the industrial sub-sector.