[Health survey of ambulance workers with a generic questionnaire (SF-36)]

The high work-related stress among ambulance workers is a widely known a phenomenon.

The aim of the authors was to asses self-reported health status of ambulance workers.

An anonym self-fill-in questionnaire applying SF-36 was used among workers from the northern and western regions of Hungarian National Ambulance Service.

Based on the dimensions of the SF-36 questionnaire the responders considered their "Physical Functioning" the best, while "Vitality" was regarded the worst. The more time an employee have been worked at the Ambulance Service the worse his health was in the first four dimensions including "Physical Functioning", "Role-Physical", "Bodily Pain" and "General Health": p<0.001. Those working in part-time jobs considered their health in all dimensions worse. The respondents who did some kind of sports hold their health in all dimensions better (p<0.001). The workers with higher body mass index regarded their health status worse, in four dimensions: "Physical Functioning" (p = 0.001), "Role-Physical" (p = 0.013), "General Health" (p<0.001) and "Role-Emotional" (p = 0.05).

According to the subjective perception of health and measurable parameters of health status of workers proved to be insufficient. Poor physical health can lead indirectly to psychological problems, which may lower the quality of the work and can lead to high turn-over. .