5 research outputs found
Occupational stress in a South African workforce: instrument testing, prevalence measurement and risk factor analysis
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of the
Witwatersrand in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Medicine in the branch of Community Health (Public Health Medicine).
May 2014Background
Occupational stress represents a substantial public health challenge. Although there
has been an extensive focus on this form of stress within the international setting,
there appears to be a paucity of relevant evidence within South Africa. Specifically,
within the local context, there are relatively few: (1) reliability testing studies of
screening and assessment instruments, (2) prevalence analyses of occupational
stress and (3) work-related stress management intervention designs.
Methods
A cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study was undertaken in a large tertiary
hospital in Johannesburg. Primary data were collected between February 2013 and
September 2013 using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ). A
sample (n=166) of administrative staff was selected, stratified into front line staff
(n=54), back office staff (n=90) and managers (n=22).
Data analysis included reliability testing of the COPSOQ using the Cronbach‘s alpha
statistic. Prevalence measurement was also undertaken to describe the distribution
of stress and other variables across the study sample. Finally, logistic regression
was used to estimate associations between the exposure variables and the stress
outcome (at the p < 0.05 level of significance).
Results
The Cronbach‘s alpha range for the COPSOQ was 0.31 to 0.85. Two out of 24
scales of the instrument fell below the unacceptability threshold of 0.5. In terms of
prevalence, the stress mean for the study sample (on a scale from 0 to 100) was
38.8 (SD 19.8). Furthermore, 68.1% (n=113) of the study sample had a stress value
above the reference mean. There were also significant differences in the stress
values by job category, with managers having the highest mean at 51.2 (SD 24.2).
Adjusting for job category, risk factors significantly associated with occupational
stress in the main logistic model were offensive behaviour (OR 3.38, 95% CI: 1.54 –
7.43), quantitative demands (OR 2.83, 95% CI: 1.35 – 5.92) and emotional demands
(OR 2.32, 95% CI: 1.08 – 4.96), while quality of leadership (OR 0.32, 95% CI: 0.15 –
0.67) was a protective factor. Further analysis showed that the most harmful risk
factor for females was work-family conflict (OR 4.03; 95% CI: 1.45 - 11.21), and for
males was exposure to offensive behaviour (OR 4.63; 95% CI: 1.15 - 18.63). Finally,
ordinal regression found offensive behaviour (OR 3.60; 95% CI: 1.92 - 6.75) and
quantitative demands (OR: 2.38; 95% CI: 1.27 - 4.46) to be significant risks for
moving from low stress to high stress, while a commitment to workplace (OR 0.46;
95% CI: 0.24 - 0.86) could help to prevent this.
Conclusions
The level of occupational stress in the study sample was high relative to reference
values. An occupational stress intervention is recommended, which should include
primary, secondary and tertiary prevention strategies (according to identified risks).
Further development of the instrument is also recommended, so as to improve its
reliability in the local context. Finally, future research into occupational stress should
explore the impact of factors such as resource constraints and HIV/AIDS, and should
include an expansion into other settings and occupational categories.
Key words
Occupational stress, questionnaire reliability, psychosocial risks, intervention design
Recommendations to improve the National Development Plan for Health
In November 2011, a draft National Development Plan (NDP) was released that addresses two of South Africa’s major challenges: poverty and inequity. Health and economic development are interdependent, presenting an important opportunity through the NDP to integrate health within goals of broader socio-economic development. Reviewing the NDP identified gaps based on evidence and the epidemiological risk profile of South Africa. Recommendations to improve the NDP and to deal with poverty and inequity should focus on prevention and addressing the social determinants of health, including: (i) a multisectoral approach to establish a comprehensive early childhood development programme; (ii) fiscal and legislative policies to bolster efforts to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases; (iii) promoting and maintaining a healthy workforce; (iv) and promoting a culture of evidence-based priority setting. Achieving the goal of ‘a long and healthy life for all South Africans’ will require healthy public policies, well functioning institutional and physical infrastructure, social solidarity, and an active and conscientious civil society
Four-week forecasts of COVID-19 epidemic trajectories in South Africa, Chile, Peru and Brazil : a model evaluation
ABSTRACTIntroductionFrom the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, epidemiological models have been used in a number of ways to aid governments and organizations in efficient planning of resources and decision making. These models have elucidated important epidemiological transmission parameters, in addition to making short-term projections.>Methods>We constructed a compartmental mathematical model for the transmission, detection and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infections for regions where Anglo American has mining operations. We fitted the model to publicly available data and used it to make short-term projections. Finally, we evaluated how the model performed by comparing short-term projections to actual confirmed cases, retrospectively.>FindingsConclusion<Our model produced four-week forecasts with a sufficiently high level of accuracy to guide operational and strategic planning for business continuity and COVID-19 responses in Anglo American mining sites