A SURVEY OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS REACTIONS AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS

Abstract

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND AIM The objective of the present study was to identify occupational stress and its reaction to psychological and physical health among different healthcare professionals in Karachi. METHODOLOGY An observational cross-sectional study was performed on 257 healthcare workers, including the physiotherapists, general physicians, nurses age between 25-55 years and working for 8 or more hours. A Convenient non- probability purposive sampling technique was used to collect the data. Data was collected from hospitals in 4 districts of Karachi, through the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) and Job Stress Questionnaire. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) Version 16.0 was used. ANOVA & Post HOC analysis was used to compare the effects of variables. (P-value <0.05 considered significant). RESULTS Out of 257 participants n= 94 were males and n=163 were females. Among the total sample n=102 were General Physicians, n= 79 were Physiotherapists and n=76 were nurses. Insignificance was found when the occupation was compared with both occupational stressors (p=0.093) and with stress reactions (p=0.456). CONCLUSION Overall general physicians experience more occupational stressors than nurses and physiotherapists. Moreover, the study found that female health-care workers are more affected by occupational stress than men. KEY WORDS Mental health, anxiety, health personnel, physical health, stress reaction, occupational stress.