IJCM_354A: Mental health screening of workers of a tertiary care neuropsychiatry hospital of Delhi

Abstract

Background: Employee mental health has a significant impact on productivity at work. People who work in healthcare environments are known to be at an increased risk of developing mental health issues. Objective: To assess the psychological distress in housekeeping and sanitation workers of IHBAS hospital Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted on the housekeeping and sanitation workers of the IHBAS hospital, a tertiary care Neuropsychiatry hospital and Institute. The socio-demographic data of the workers was collected. Kessler Psychological Distress scale (K10) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale -21 (DASS-21) were used to assess psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and stress among workers. The data was entered and analysed in SPSS 21. Results: A total of 598 workers were screened, of which 50.7% were males and 49.3% were females .63.5% of the workers were in the age group of 31 to 50 years,24.4% were between 18-30 years of age and 12% were more than 50 years of age. The output of K10 scale for psychological distress showed that only 0.2% were likely to have a mild disorder. The analysis of DASS-21 yielded on depression subscale that 0.5% had mild depression, and 0.2% each had moderate and extremely severe depression. On the anxiety subscale, 0.5% had moderate anxiety, 0.2% each had mild and extremely severe anxiety and stress subscale yielded that 0.5% had mild stress, and 0.2% had moderate stress Conclusion: Even though the percentage of workers with mental health problems was very low based on screening with K10 and DASSS-21, it is still worthwhile to screen for and appropriately address mental health issues among hospital employees as part of the occupational health program