Workload, occupational stress, and general health of female employees of public welfare centers

Abstract

Background: The employees of welfare centers, due to the special conditions of their work, may be exposed to excessive occupational stress and workload. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of workload and occupational stress on the general health of female employees of public welfare centers. Materials and Methods: This was a correlational research on 63 female employees of 3 welfare centers. The data were collected using the Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI), NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software by computing the Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients and the stepwise regression. Results: The general health score of 66% of staff of the welfare centers was higher than the cutoff point, as limit determinant of health and non-health. Among the different dimensions of general health, social disorders obtained the highest score; 74% of staff had social problems. The workload score of 12% of women was higher than 70 (high workload) and the workload score of 71.42% of women was between 40 and 70 (intermediate). Mean score of General Health Care of mentally ill disabled, and elderly employees was, respectively, 21.12, 27.21, and 24.90. The Occupational Stress Inventory score of the study population was 151.04, indicating that welfare employees were not exposed to high rates of stress in their work environment. Conclusions: The results of the study suggest that authorities should pay special attention to ergonomics factors affecting the general health of welfare employees, especially with respect to social disorders. Moreover, personality traits should also be considered in employing of individuals.