Factors influencing the stress among the police personnel of Chitradurga city: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Background: Policemen are the real heroes of our country, but most people are unaware of the amount of stress they face every day. Their work involves protecting life, safeguarding properties by vigilant patrolling and maintaining law and order in the society. Hence the present study on the police personnel of Chitradurga city will help to reveal the impact of their job on their day to day life. The objectives of the study were to find out the stress level among the police personnel; to assess the influence of demographic, occupational and personal factors on the stress. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among the police personnel in the five police stations in Chitradurga city for a period of one year. Complete enumeration method was used to include 282 police men and women in the study. A pre-designed, pre-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Appropriate statistical tests were applied. Results: The mean age of the participants was 36.13±10.33. The participants in the study were predominantly males, 89%. About 70.9% of the study participants were found to be stressed - 38.7% had mild stress, 26.2% had moderate stress and 6% had severe stress. Conclusions: The stress was found to be significantly associated with marital and socioeconomic status, station, shift work, having sustained injuries during work, attending court summons, smoking, alcohol consumption, tobacco chewing, less sleep and snoring.