Evaluation of work place stress in health university workers: a study from rural India

Healthcare providers being over-worked and under staffed are prone to poor mental health. Unhealthy work place compounds it further.

This study was aimed at to assess the mental health status of a medical university employee with special reference to work place stressors.

A cross-sectional study was designed and carried out at a Rural Health University.

Both the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-12 and Holmes-Rahe Scale were used to evaluate 406 participants.

Multivariate analysis, correlation, and ANOVA by SPSS 11.0.

The minimum age of the participant was 19 years and the maximum 64 years, with an average age at 35.09 years. On the GHQ scale 239(58.9%) recorded psychiatric morbidity out of which 201(49.5%) had moderate and 38(9.3%) severe morbidity. Doctors were the highest stressed group (P ≤ 0.04). Prominent work environmental stressors were poor departmental reorganization, lack of cohesiveness in department, difficult superiors and juniors (P ≤ 0.001, Pearson correlation). Stressors associated with work organization and work nature were: noninvolvement in departmental decision making and lack of proper feedback; along with; work load, lack of clarity in job, and a erratic work schedule (P ≤ 0.001 on Pearson correlation). Harassment, favoritism, discrimination, and lack of self-expression (P ≤ 0.003) were other factors responsible for work dissatisfaction.

A high stress level was detected in the study population. The principal stressors were work environment related. Poor work culture was found to lead to job dissatisfaction among majority.