Do Low Self-Esteem and High Stress Lead to Burnout Among Health-Care Workers? Evidence From a Tertiary Hospital in Bangalore, India

Background and Aim: Healthcare workers are at risk of infections from blood-borne pathogens due to percutaneous injuries from sharps, mucous membrane and skin exposures to contaminated blood and bodily ﬂuids. The study, therefore, investigated exposure to occupational-related blood and fluids infections, accidental injuries and precaution practices among health care workers in a tertiary hospital in South-West, Nigeria. Methods: The study utilised a cross-sectional research design requiring a structured questionnaire to elicit data from medical doctors, nurses and laboratory scientists/technologists. Through the convenience sampling technique, 266 respondents were selected for the study. Non-parametric descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data with the level of significance of the chi-square test put at 5%. Results: The overwhelming majority (76%) of the health care workers at the hospital are of the female gender. The study found that the majority of the respondents (92%) were trained on infection control in the course of their career while virtually all of them (98%) had never contracted an occupational-related infection. Recapping of used needles accounted for 24.4% of activity that predisposed the workers to accidental injuries. Also, there was a significant association between the recapping of needles and the occurrence of accidental injuries (P.V. = 0.000). Meanwhile, the incidence of unreported injuries stood at 70.3% as all the reasons given were significant (P.V. = 0.000) using a one-sample chi-square test. Conclusion: It has been established that prevention practices like training in infection control, adherence to clear work procedures and guidelines, post-exposure prophylaxis and use of personal protective equipment were associated with contraction of occupational-related infections. Moreover, while recapping of used needles was a usual practice in the hospital, it was, however, associated with cases of accidental injuries among most health care workers. Unfortunately, most cases of injuries were unreported due to certain significant reasons.

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Associations Among Depression, Leisure-time and Occupational Physical Activity of Health Care Providers in a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital Setting

African Journal of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences ◽

10.4314/ajprs.v9i1-2.3 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 9 (1-2) ◽

pp. 16-21

Author(s):

E.S. Aliyu ◽

A.F. Adeniyi

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Leisure Time ◽

Health Benefits ◽

Hospital Setting ◽

Tertiary Hospital ◽

Care Providers ◽

Care Workers

Physical activity (PA) has been consistently associated with enhanced quality of life. The tight schedule of duty of health care workers may predispose them to physical inactivity and psychosocial morbidities which most of them tend to ignore while rendering services to others. The prevalence of depression among Nigerian health care workers and its association with PA is not known. This study investigated the levels of leisure-time and occupational PA and their association with depression among health care providers in a Nigerian tertiary hospital setting. The research was a cross-sectional survey of 734 health care providers. The Godin-Shephard Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire, Occupational Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale were used to assess leisure-time PA, occupational PA and depression respectively. Data obtained were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics at α= 0.05. The mean age of participants was 39.6 ± 9.4 years (range 22-57 years). Nearly half of the health care providers (46.2%) reported low participation or insufficient leisure-time PA that could provide substantial health benefits, while 20.2% participated in leisure-time PA that could give some health benefits and 33.7% participated in leisure-time PA that could give substantial health benefits. Sitting/standing were the main occupational PAs of the majority (96.2%) of the health workers. The overall prevalence for depression was 11.4%. There was a significant association between leisure-time PA and depression (χ2 =18.9, p= 0.016). There was no significant association between occupational PA and depression. There is low participation in leisure-time PA among health care workers and this is linked with depression. Efforts to improve participation in leisure-time PA among workers may help to relieve their depression symptoms. KEY WORDS: leisure time, occupation, physical activity, depression

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