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Abstract This study aimed to measure the prevalence and risk factors of work related stress among residents at Ain Shams University hospitals as well as to study the relationship between work related stress and job satisfaction. A cross-sectional study was conducted including 488 residents from Ain Shams University Hospitals their ages range from 24 to 29 years old and the percentage of males and females was almost the same. Self-administered questionnaire was used which involved demographic and job related characteristics, work related stressors, stress associated manifestations, causes of job dissatisfaction, as well as general health questionnaire (12 items) which is a questionnaire designed and validated by WHO. It was evident from the study results that work related stress was prevalent among residents working inAin Shams University Hospitals, as 58% of them were stressed, 29.9% scored severe stress. Female doctors were significantly more stressed than male doctors (65.4% and 50.4%respectively). There was a significant association between work related stress and leisure time, total working hours, workload, perception of doing job of no value,irregularity of schedule of work shifts, decision latitude, role ambiguity, role conflict, work relationships, limited opportunities for skills development and uncomfortable work environment. In addition, relation between work related stress and associated manifestations was also examined and revealed a significant relation between work related stress and the physical manifestations as (fatigue, chronic headache, muscle ache, palpitation, stomach ache, coldness in extremities, chest pain, constipation or diarrhea and nausea) and also between stress and the psychological and behavioural manifestations as (frustration, depression, lack of self-confidence, restlessness, anxiety, lack of concentration, impaired memory, racing thoughts, rapid anger, lack of life enjoyment, social withdrawal, hesitation, attacks of crying, loss of sense of humor, nervousness, decreased appetite, frequent yawing, insomnia and night mares). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, perception of doing job of no value, uncomfortable work environment,difficulty in taking vacation, problems in communication with supervisors and gender were the most important independent predictors of work related stress.Pareto chart showed that lack of leisure time, urgency of time, uncomfortable work environment, long working hours, absence of job description and problems with the supervisors were responsible for about 60% of the outcome (work related stress). Regarding job satisfaction, the current study showed that 59.4% of the residents were dissatisfied with their job. Female doctors were significantly more dissatisfied than male doctors (66.3% and 52.5% respectively). The highest dissatisfaction was among the oncologists (69.2%), while the least was among thegynecologists and obstetricians (42.9%). There was a significant association between work related stress and job satisfaction. Moreover, the current study showed a significant relation between job satisfaction and work environment, safety and training level at work, taking decision, diversity of tasks, lack of resources, relationships with supervisors and colleagues, ways of problem solving, ambition, enthusiasm when going to work, intention to leave and long working hours. Conclusion drawn from this study is that the degree of work related stress among residents in Ain Shams University Hospitals is considerably high; this stress is mainly related to their work place and caused by a number of workplace stressors identified by them. This indicates that residents who are working in this place are in urgent need for immediate actions and intervention programs to overcome such a problem especially for residents working in oncology department who were identified by the study as the most stressed and dissatisfied residents.These actions include:encouraging time out periods through frequent rests during the work time and at the end of a week, training courses should be periodicallyheld for improving the technical skills of the residents and for teaching them how to manage their time effectively which help in reducing the workload and work hours, giving residents opportunities to participate in decisions and let them to design their own schedule of work shifts especially for female doctors to give them more social support, clearly define workers’ roles and responsibilities,improving communication between residents and their supervisors through giving communication skills courses and through providing opportunities for social interaction with each other. |