Perceived health and its correlation with depression and subjective symptoms of nurses and care workers

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify psychological and physical health characteristics of nurses and care workers employed at a psychiatric hospital and to characterize depressive symptoms by means of correlation analysis. Subjects were 89 nurses and 78 care workers employed at a psychiatric and rehabilitation hospital in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. They responded to a structured questionnaire, the Total Health Index (THI). Mean scores of the four THI scales, Vague Complaints, Respiratory, Depression and Neurotics, of all the 167 study subjects were significantly higher than those of three reference groups. The smoking rate was almost two times higher than that of adult Japanese women. These results may be attributed to psychological stress these workers suffer in their daily human service. However, we found little difference in THI scores based on shift work or responsibilities (nursing vs. care taking). Our findings suggest that it is necessary to provide these workers some support for stress management. THI scores that correlated most strongly with the Depression score were Mental Instability, Irregularity of Life, Irritability, and Vague Complaints (correlation coefficients were 0.75, 0.54, 0.53, and 0.52, respectively). THI scores that correlated most weakly with the Depression score were Digestive, Respiratory, and Mouth and Anal (correlation coefficients were 0.35, 0.34, and 0.32, respectively). Depression in our subjects appeared to be related exclusively to vague psychological symptoms rather than organ-specific symptoms.