BackgroundHealthcare workers including physicians, nurses, medical technicians and administrative staff experience high levels of occupational stress as a result of heavy workloads, extended working hours and time-related pressure. The aims of this study were to investigate factors associated with work stress among hospital staff members and to evaluate their health-promoting lifestyle behaviors.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study from May 1, 2010 to July 30, 2010 and recruited 775 professional staff from two regional hospitals in Taiwan using purposive sampling. Demographic data and self-reported symptoms related to work-related stress were collected. Each subject completed the Chinese versions of the Job Content Questionnaire (C-JCQ) and The Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLSP). Linear and binary regression analyses were applied to identify associations between these two measurements and subjects’ characteristics, and associations between the two measurements and stress symptoms.ResultsSelf-reported symptoms of work-related stress included 64.4% of subjects reporting nervousness, 33.7% nightmares, 44.1% irritability, 40.8% headaches, 35.0% insomnia, and 41.4% gastrointestinal upset. C-JCQ scores for psychological demands of the job and discretion to utilize skills had a positive correlation with stress-related symptoms; however, the C-JCQ scores for decision-making authority and social support correlated negatively with stress-related symptoms except for nightmares and irritability. All items on the HPLSP correlated negatively with stress-related symptoms except for irritability, indicating an association between subjects’ symptoms and a poor quality of health-promoting lifestyle behaviors.ConclusionsWe found that high demands, little decision-making authority, and low levels of social support were associated with the development of stress-related symptoms. The results also suggested that better performance on or a higher frequency of health-promoting life-style behaviors might reduce the chances of hospital staff developing stress-related symptoms. Our report may contribute to the development of educational programs designed to encourage members of high stress groups among the hospital staff to increase their health-promoting behaviors.
The objective of this study was to evaluate comorbidity and risk factors associated with female urinary incontinence and to assess quality of life for women with different types of urinary incontinence. Subjects included 551 consecutive females who attended the outpatient clinic from 9 March to 8 July 2006 and did not have a chief complaint of incontinence. A four-item incontinence questionnaire and a Chinese version of the Incontinence-Quality of Life (I-QOL) questionnaire were completed in the waiting room. Patient characteristics and medical conditions were summarized from outpatient electronic databases. A total of 371 females were included for statistical analysis. Among them, 114 patients (30.7%) did not indicate any urinary incontinence, while 257 (69.3%) patients indicated symptoms of urge incontinence, stress incontinence, or mixed incontinence. Comorbidities significantly associated with incontinence included osteoarthritis (P = 0.001), peptic ulcer disease (P = 0.031), obesity (P < 0.001), and cardiac disease (P < 0.001). After multiple logistic regression analysis, obesity (OR 3.38, 95% CI 1.94-6.98) and postmenstrual status (OR 2.17, 95% CI 1.35-3.50) were found to be risk factors of incontinence (P < 0.001). Mixed incontinence patients exhibited the least satisfaction in quality of life, while no significant differences were observed between patients with urge incontinence and stress incontinence. In conclusion, the incidence of urinary incontinence may be greater in the outpatient population than previously thought. Osteoarthritis, peptic ulcer disease, and cardiac disease are more common in women with urinary incontinence, obesity and postmenopausal status appear predictive of incontinence, and women with mixed incontinence exhibit the least satisfying quality of life.
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