Abstract
Job strain is a major concern in view of its effects among civil servants associated with job burnout, mental fatigue and chronic diseases. The objective of this study was to assess the job strain level among civil servants and examine the effect of job strain on job burnout, mental fatigue and the resulting chronic diseases. A cross-sectional study with a representative sample consisting of 5000 civil servants was conducted from March to August 2014. Using a structured questionnaire, the job strain level, job burnout and mental fatigue were measured by using the Personal Strain Questionnaire (PSQ), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20), respectively. Overall, 33.8% of the civil servants were found to be afflicted with high and moderate job strain. The characteristics of most of the civil servants with a higher-job strain level were as follows: female, Uygur, lower educational level and job title rank, shorter working experience, married marital status, and lower income level. Civil servants suffering from chronic disease mainly had hypertension and coronary heart disease, which accounted for 18.5% of the diseases. Civil servants with a high-job strain level exhibited higher rates of burnout, mental fatigue scores and incidence of chronic diseases. There was a multiple linear regression model composed of three predictor variables in job burnout, which accounted for 45.0% of its occurrence: female gender, lower-income level, higher-job strain in civil servants, the greater the rate of job burnout was. Four factors—male gender, lower-job title rank, higher-job strain, shorter-job tenure of civil servants—explained 25.0% of the mental fatigue model. Binary logistic regression showed that intermediate-rank employees (OR = 0.442, 95% CI: 0.028–0.634; p < 0.05), job tenure of 10–20 years (OR = 0.632, 95% CI: 0.359–0.989; p < 0.05), and low-job strain (OR = 0.657, 95% CI: 0.052–0.698; p < 0.05) were all associated with significantly lower odds of chronic disease. The risk of chronic disease was higher in civil servants with high-job burnout scores and mental fatigue scores compared with civil servants with lower scores (OR = 1.139, 95% CI: 1.012–3.198; OR = 1.697, 95% CI: 1.097–2.962). These data provide evidence for the effects of job strain on job burnout, mental fatigue and chronic diseases among civil servants.
Highlights
Job strain refers to a state of physical and mental strain caused by an imbalance between strict job requirements and an inadequate ability to adapt and cope [1]
We found there were p-Value statistically significant differences of mental fatigueFatigue scoresScores among groups with low, moderate, and high levels of job strain in civil servants
Risk of chronic disease was higher in civil servants with high-job burnout scores and mental fatigue scores compared with civil servants with lower scores (OR = 1.139, 95% CI: 1.012–3.198; OR = 1.697, 95% CI: 1.097–2.962)
Summary
Job strain refers to a state of physical and mental strain caused by an imbalance between strict job requirements and an inadequate ability to adapt and cope [1]. The term civil servants refers to personnel who perform their duties according to law, and are included in the national administrative system, whose salaries are paid by the state. They are responsible for managing state affairs and the liaison between citizens and the government [11,12]. A sizeable number of studies have disclosed that the general health condition of civil servants is not satisfactory, and can even be alarming [17], due to their job roles and types of job strain to which they are exposed [12]
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