Abstract
Work-related psychosocial hazards result in numerous adverse effects on physical and psychological health, a reduction in quality of life and a decline in performance capacity to workers. While the condition is widespread across various occupations, healthcare sectors are acknowledged to be at high risk. In developing countries such as Ethiopia, however, the lack of reliable data on psychosocial hazards including psychological distress (PD) often hampers officials from planning for preventive actions. This study assessed the magnitude and influencing factors of PD among healthcare professionals in Gondar city, Ethiopia. We employed a cross-sectional survey of 422 healthcare professionals selected with a stratified random sampling technique between April and March 2019. The symptoms of psychological distress were assessed with a standardized 10 items Kessler Psychological Distress Scale instrument. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted by use of SPSS program version 20. Factors associated with psychological distress symptoms were ascertained at < 0.05 p-value. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a confidence interval (CI) of 95% was used to determine the strength of associations. In total, 417questionnaires fully completed and returned with a response rate of 98.8%. Age ranges from 23 to 57 with a mean of 31.00 (± 8.219 SD) years. Work-related psychological distress symptoms in the past 4weeks stood at 44.4% (N = 185) [95%CI (39.8, 49.4)]. Being female worker [AOR: 2.07; 95% CI (1.29, 3.32)], high job demand [(AOR: 1.53; 95% CI (1.10, 2.57)] and low job control [AOR: 2.54; 95% CI (1.60, 4.04)] were significant factors of psychological distress. This study underscores the level of psychological distress among healthcare professionals is high. The experiences of psychological distress symptoms were significantly influenced by socio-demographic factors including sex and psychosocial job characteristics such as job demand and job control. Efforts to prevent the mental health of workers including psychological distress symptoms need to focus on individual attributes and job contexts.
Highlights
Emerging risks, such as psychosocial hazards in various contemporary workplaces have become major threats to workers, employers and the society
Peer Review History: PLOS recognizes the benefits of transparency in the peer review process; we enable the publication of all of the content of peer review and author responses alongside final, published articles
Work-related psychological distress symptoms in the past 4weeks stood at 44.4% (N = 185) [95%confidence interval (CI) (39.8, 49.4)]
Summary
Emerging risks, such as psychosocial hazards in various contemporary workplaces have become major threats to workers, employers and the society. The healthcare sector is one of the vulnerable sectors conceivably linked with exposure to psychosocial and other traditional risks at the same time [1,2,3]. Work-related psychosocial hazards result in numerous adverse effects on physical and psychological health, a reduction in quality of life and a decline in performance capacity to workers. While the condition is widespread across various occupations, healthcare sectors are acknowledged to be at high risk. In developing countries such as Ethiopia, the lack of reliable data on psychosocial hazards including psychological distress (PD) often hampers officials from planning for preventive actions. This study assessed the magnitude and influencing factors of PD among healthcare professionals in Gondar city, Ethiopia
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