Demandas emocionales, violencia laboral y salud mental según género en trabajadores de hospitales públicos chilenos

Abstract

It is relevant to study the emotional demands of health workers because they are inevitably linked to the nature of their tasks. Previous literature has linked workplace violence with emotional demands, since these demands imply an additional workload, which can become a source of conflict. A cross-sectional study was carried out by applying a self-report questionnaire to 1023 officials (302 men and 721 women) from three highly complex Chilean hospitals. When analyzing according to the simultaneous positive response to the four items applied, 63% of the women are exposed to high emotional demands versus 55% of men (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences between men and women in the other variables of the study, except the proportion belonging to the nonprofessional class (60% of women vs. 46% of men). High demands increase the chance of reporting Workplace Violence by more than four times in men and women (OR = 4.15 [IC: 2.55-6.76]). than those not exposed to high demands.