Work Stress among Staff at a Medical Center in Southern Taiwan

Abstract

ISEE-0350 Objective: The work stress among the staff at medical centers in Taiwan is high because of the large service volume, teaching loads, and research activities. Previous studies on this issue have been focused on doctors and nurses and left out other staff members. Therefore, we conducted a study to evaluate the overall work stress at a medical center. Materials and Methods: We recruited workers working in a medical center in southern Taiwan between July 1 and August 31, 2007. Information on demographic characteristics was collected through a self-administrated questionnaire. Participants also reported habits of smoking, drinking, and regular exercise and completed a job content questionnaire. Results: 1770 workers participated in this study. We observed positive associations between work stress and age, gender, education, work category, being in charge of patient care, shift work, and exercise (all with P < 0.01). After adjusting for other factors, we found a work history of 1–5 years (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.80, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14–2.84), a work history of 6–10 years (AOR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.23–3.67), and a work history of >10 years (AOR = 2.69, 95% CI: 1.50–4.84) were independent risk factors of work stress. While age of 40–44 years (AOR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.23–0.90), age >45 years (AOR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.23–0.97), non-shift work (AOR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.47–0.90), and working as a medical technologist (AOR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.39–0.96) were protective factors. Conclusion: At the medical center, work stress is associated with seniority, age, shift work, and job category. Therefore, different strategies should be applied to interventions for work stress control. Key words: shift work, work stress, job content questionnaire.