An assessment of perceived stress among police personnel in Puducherry, India

Abstract

Background: Currently stress is an important health issue in view of increasing trend of non-communicable diseases at a global level. There is paucity of data on stress among vulnerable groups like police personnel. Aim: To assess the stress level and its associated factors among police personnel. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 296 police personnel in urban Puducherry, India. Perceived stress level was assessed by Cohen's Perceived Stress scale and classified into low (0-11), average (12-15), high (16-20), and very high (21-40) levels based on the stress scores obtained. Data were analyzed by proportion, chi-square test, and binomial logistic regression analysis. Results: About two-thirds of the police personnel belonged to the age group of 25-39 years (68.2%). About 56.1% of the police personnel were designated as police constables. Majority of the police personnel had high and very high levels of stress (83.8%). Hypertension and body mass index (BMI) were found to be significantly associated with stress level categories in univariate analysis. With respect to question item analysis, majority of the police personnel were sometimes and fairly often had one or the other symptoms of stress. Multiple regression analysis showed that those with hypertension had 2.23 times more [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.295-3.847] severe and very severe stress levels compared to those with mild and moderate levels of stress. Conclusion: Stress level is high among police personnel, which needs to be addressed by appropriate intervention measures.