The Impact of Work and Family Stress on Workers’ Health

Aims: To evaluate the role of some work factors ( shift work and monthly income) and family factors (marital status and number of dependants) in the development and aggravation of some stress related diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart diseases (CHD), diabetes mellitus (DM), and peptic ulcer ( PU).
Study Design: A cross sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: “El Nasr for Tobacco and Cigarettes” factory, Giza, Egypt. The study was performed between January to December 2012.
Methodology: The sample size included the whole work force (4800 workers). A special questionnaire was designed including socio- demographic characteristics, medical and occupational histories. Clinical examination was performed in the medical department of the factory. Some investigations were done (ECG, urine for glucose, fasting and post- prandial blood sugar, Stress ECG and stomach endoscopy for suspected cases). Data obtained from the study were coded and entered using the statistical package SPSS version 12. Comparisons between groups were done using Chi Square (X 2) test.
Results: Hypertension was the most prevalent stress related disease among workers (19.2%), males were more affected than females (20.3% versus 15.02% respectively ), divorced were more affected than married and single ones (29.1% versus 6.8% and 1.7% respectively). There was exponential increased incidence of all diseases in workers with more dependents. There was more incidence of diseases among moderate income workers compared to lower and higher ones. Night shift workers were more afflicted when compared to rotating and morning shifts (25.7%, 22.5% and 16.8% respectively for hypertension).
Conclusion: Incidence of stress related diseases such as Hypertension, CHD, DM and PU was more prevalent among workers with stressful work factors such as night shift and low income, as well as those with stressful family situations such as increased number of dependants, being divorced or widowed.