Examining the dimensions and correlates of workplace stress among Australian veterinarians

Derek R Smith,Maureen Townley-Jones,Richard Speare,Peter A Leggat

doi:10.1186/1745-6673-4-32

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough stress is known to be a common occupational health issue in the veterinary profession, few studies have investigated its broad domains or the internal validity of the survey instrument used for assessment.MethodsWe analysed data from over 500 veterinarians in Queensland, Australia, who were surveyed during 2006-07.ResultsThe most common causes of stress were reported to be long hours worked per day, not having enough holidays per year, not having enough rest breaks per day, the attitude of customers, lack of recognition from the public and not having enough time per patient. Age, gender and practice type were statistically associated with various aspects of work-related stress. Strong correlations were found between having too many patients per day and not having enough time per patient; between not having enough holidays and long working hours; and also between not enough rest breaks per day and long working hours. Factor analysis revealed four dimensions of stress comprising a mixture of career, professional and practice-related items. The internal validity of our stress questionnaire was shown to be high during statistical analysis.ConclusionOverall, this study suggests that workplace stress is fairly common among Australian veterinarians and represents an issue that occupies several distinct areas within their professional life.

Highlights

Stress is known to be a common occupational health issue in the veterinary profession, few studies have investigated its broad domains or the internal validity of the survey instrument used for assessment
Only a few studies have looked at stress among Australian veterinarians, and even fewer have conducted a detailed analysis of stress domains and the associated validity of the survey instrument used for assessment
The current study has clearly demonstrated the presence of stress in Australian veterinary practice, it is important to keep our findings in perspective

Summary

Introduction

Stress is known to be a common occupational health issue in the veterinary profession, few studies have investigated its broad domains or the internal validity of the survey instrument used for assessment. Stress is not evenly distributed, with gender, age and practice type known to be important correlates [12,20]. Despite this fact, only a few studies have looked at stress among Australian veterinarians, and even fewer have conducted a detailed analysis of stress domains and the associated validity of the survey instrument used for assessment. The purpose of our current study was to analyse the dimensions of stress among Australian veterinarians, to establish whether certain psychosocial factors were influencing the development and severity of their symptoms, and to assess the statistical validity of our survey instrument

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion