Health profile of security personnel in a tertiary care hospital in Odisha

ABSTRACT

Background: Security guards/protective inspectors are a group of professional gray collar workers responsible for safety and security of general public. In healthcare institutions, they play a pivotal role in streamlining the movement of patients, healthcare workers as well as other people as well as keeping a check upon the law-breaking activities within the premises. These professionals are constantly overburdened with responsibility and many of them are under the verge of physical, mental, and emotional crisis leading to various health issues. Aim and Objective: To assess the influence of changing work patterns on the overall physical health of security guards working in the hospital. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital in the Eastern part of Odisha involving all the security personnel currently working. Universal sampling was opted and 465 personnel participated in this study. Results: Of the total, 213 (45.8%) were between 30 and 40 years of age and 398 (85.5%) were male. 179 (38.4%) were overweight and 52.2% had a waist-hip ratio above normal range for their gender. Prevalence of anemia and Conjunctival xerosis was significantly higher among night shift workers with P < 0.001 whereas hypertension (P = 0.08) and rheumatoid arthritis (P = 0.006) was significantly higher among morning shift workers. Conclusion: Being a distinctive member of the hospital, it is high time that regular health check-ups and social security measures should be made available to them in order to provide quality life which will in turn ensure better hospital safety and security.