Occupational stress among professionals

Abstract

Stress is so imbibed in us that it has become lifestyle itself. In fast changing world, no\rprofession is stress free. Unhealthy occupational stress results into accidents,\rabsenteeism, presenteeism, hence costs productivity and output. It a major root cause\rbeneath the onset of many lifestyle diseases like Diabetes, Heart diseases, Obesity,\rAlzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Cancer etc and adversely affect mental and\rsocial wellbeing. The present study was carried out to assess the level of occupational\rstress among professionals. One hundred three subjects aged 30-60 years in four\rgroups (doctors, nurses, bankers and professors) were selected by purposive random\rsampling technique from Rohtak area of Haryana, India. A self-designed Questionnaire\rwas formulated to elicit information regarding the socio-economic and work profile,\rfood habits, dietary practices, nutritional knowledge and stress awareness of subjects.\rOccupational Stress Inventory Scale was used to assess the occupational stress\rlevel. In the present study, the mean occupational stress levels for doctors, nurses,\rbankers and professors were 135.09+18.45, 128.80+ 16.61, 124.63+ 14.76 and\r117.00+20.12, respectively. One way anova analysis showed a significant (p<0.002)\rdifference in the stress levels according to profession (F=5.17). Doctors have highest\roccupational Stress Level. Bankers have more or less similar stress levels as nurses.\rProfessors have low stress level. The post-hoc tukey multiple comparison showed\rthat stress level of doctors is significantly different from professors (p<0.001) but not\rfrom nurses and bankers. Reasons behind the high level of occupational stress in\rprofessionals seemed heavy work load, consistently changing work shifts and longerworking hours and non-congenial work conditions.