Assessment of job stress; demographic factors in doctors working at the tertiary care hospitals of Karachi

ABSTRACT

Today medical profession is fully equipped with highly competitive roles and responsibilities which serve as high source of stress in one's daily life. Stress has it negative effects on person's life like unbearable health outcomes are among one of the prominent cause of stress linked occupational diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the job stress among different doctors working in tertiary care hospitals of Karachi and to compare it with different demographical factors. Non- experimental, cross-sectional survey was conducted at different tertiary care hospitals of Karachi. Total one hundred and thirty five doctors filled the standardized job stress questionnaire through convenient sampling method from December 2011 to May 2012. Overall job stress score was 52.56 +/- 16.35. The value of Cronbach's Alpha was 79.65%. Unmarried professionals were significantly more stressed than married professionals [p < 0.0001]. Similarly, participants with only graduate degree with less year of experience were found to have higher stress than postgraduate medical doctors. The change in the marital status, depicted by Gamma coefficient, explained the decrement of job stress observed from single to married. It was concluded from this study that in medical profession stress is never underestimated. Demographic factors like marital status, experience and professional qualification serve as the stress reducing factors among professional