Generic and Police-Specific Occupational Risk Factors of Mental Health and Well-Being Among Urban and Sub-Urban Malaysian Traffic Police Officers

@#Introduction: Mental health in policing has been widely studied but incidence of mental health illnesses among them keep increasing. This study aimed to analyse generic and specific work stressors among police officers and their differences between urban and sub-urban police population. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Kuala Lumpur and in nine sub-urban provinces in Pahang and Negeri Sembilan which involved 328 traffic police officers recruited by universal sampling. Data was collected by using self-administered questionnaire consisted of Police Stress Questionnaire (PSQ), the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), the Work Family Conflicts (WFC), the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Results: The response rate was 71.30%. Majority of respondents were male (86.59%) with average age of 38.84 years old. The prevalence of probable mental health illnesses was 29.80% in sub-urban and 44.30% in urban. Job demand, role ambiguity, family to work conflicts and almost all specific works stressors were significantly higher among urban respondents. For urban, results showed that the most significant stressor was perceived air pollution (p<0.01) followed by age (p=0.01), job control (p=0.01), and operational stressors (p=0.03). While in sub-urban, the most significant stressors determined were the presence of chronic diseases (p=0.03) and organizational stressors (p=0.01). Conclusion: The prevalence of probable mental health illnesses was high in both study areas and each area had its own unique work stressors. Intervention strategies prioritizing on these factors are therefore recommended.

Measuring Occupational Stress and HRA Axis Dysregulation among Healthy Workers by Salivary Cortisol Levels.

Background: Salivary cortisol is a useful biomarker in stress research, as a valid measure for HPA axis activity, whose deregulation is one of the ways that psychosocial risk factors at work, result to the creation of illness. Aim: The aim of this review was to summarize current literature of salivary cortisol as measures of work stress in healthy workers, so as to investigate the association between work stress and cortisol secretion as well as to identify specific work characteristics, that affect the cortisol secretion. Methods: We identified articles through PubMed using search terms related to salivary cortisol, HPA axis, work stress. Results: Many studies have shown that altered level of cortisol, appears to be associated with work related stress factors. Work shift, working hours, the nature of work, organizational characteristic of work (effort reward imbalance, high demand-low control, over-commitment, conflicts between home and work demands, and workload) as well as bulling at work, socio-demographic characteristics, financial strain, physical risk factors and social support at work are found to affect Cortisol levels. Though the relationship between the cortisol secretion and some of the above work stressors was found to be contradictory. Discussion: From the present study it is obvious that the researches present an inconsistency regarding the impact of work stressors on cortisol levels. It has been identified that increased cortisol levels in populations reporting increased distress couldn’t replicate this association. Among the reasons identified to be behind these inconsistent findings are the differences in the prevalence of potential confounders, differences in analytical approach and the duration of stressful stimulus. Conclusion: The detailed knowledge about factors that play pivotal role in measures of the cortisol secretion is very important, as the biomarkers have been demonstrated that can characterize and quantify the biological impact of psychological stress. Targeted prevention policy and evidence based interventions in workplace might include the identification of sources of occupational stress and this is the first that can affect cortisol secretion.

Work-Family Conflict, Task Interruptions, and Influence at Work Predict Musculoskeletal Pain in Operating Room Nurses

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints in Swiss operating room (OR) nurses, and to investigate how work-family conflict, work interruptions, and influence at work are related to lumbar and cervical back pain. METHODS: Participants in this correlational questionnaire study included 116 OR nurses from eight different hospitals in Switzerland. RESULTS: We found that 66% of the OR staff suffered from musculoskeletal problems. The most prevalent musculoskeletal complaints were lumbar (52.7%) and cervical pain (38.4%). Furthermore, 20.5% reported pain in the mid spine region, 20.5% in the knees and legs, and 9.8% in the hands and feet. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that work-family conflict (p < 0.05) and interruptions (p < 0.05) significantly predicted lumbar and cervical pain in OR nurses, while influence at work (p < 0.05) only predicted lumbar pain. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that reducing the work-family conflict and interruptions at work, as well as offering opportunities to influence one's workplace, help to promote OR nurses' health.

High level of work stressors increase the risk of mental-emotional disturbances among airline pilots.

Civilian airline pilots have one of the most stressful occupations. The aim of this study was to identify the effect of work stressors and other factors on mental-emotional disturbances among airline pilots. A cross-sectional study was done by interviewing selected pilots of an airline using appropriate questionnaires, during their routine medical examination from May to July 1999 in Jakarta. Five aspects of work stressor were assessed: working conditions, physical conditions of working environment, career development, organization and interpersonal relationship. Mental-emotional disturbances were determined by using the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL 90) questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out using relative risk by Cox regression with constant time. From 128 subjects interviewed, 109 could be analyzed. Most of the subjects were married (73.4%) and college graduates (91.7%). The number of captains and first officers were almost equal. The prevalence of mental-emotional disturbances was 39.4%. Mental-emotional disturbances were significantly related to work stressors and moderately related to household tension (P = 0.184). Compared to pilots with low levels of work stressors, those with high or very high levels of work stressors had a risk of 4.6 times of mental-emotional disturbances [adjusted relative risk (RRa) = 4.64; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.01 – 19.65]. Adequate guides to cope work stressors and household tension which related to mental-emotional disturbance is recommended.