Health problems and stress in Information Technology and Business Process Outsourcing employees

Abstract

Stress is high in software profession because of their nature of work, target, achievements, night shift, over work load. 1. To study the demographic profile of the employees. 2. To access the level of job stress and quality of life of the respondents. 3. To study in detail the health problems of the employees. All employees working in IT and BPO industry for more than two years were included into the study. A detailed questionnaire of around 1000 IT and BPO employees including their personal details, stress score by Holmes and Rahe to assess the level of stress and master health checkup profile were taken and the results were analysed. Around 56% had musculoskeletal symptoms. 22% had newly diagnosed hypertension,10% had diabetes, 36% had dyslipidemia, 54% had depression, anxiety and insomnia, 40% had obesity. The stress score was higher in employees who developed diabetes, hypertension and depression. Early diagnosis of stress induced health problems can be made out by stress scores, intense lifestyle modification, diet advice along with psychological counselling would reduce the incidence of health problems in IT sector and improve the quality of work force.

Health problems among IT professionals in Chennai city, Tamil Nadu

“…It was also agreed by previous researcher in their finding. 2,6 Health problems such as visual, musculoskeletal and stress problems were observed. Related to visual problems pain, irritation, redness of eye and blurring of vision was seen in most of the patients.…”

Knowledge of computer ergonomics and incidence of musculoskeletal disorders among students of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India

“…Approximately 76% of Computer professionals from India reported musculoskeletal discomfort in various epidemiological studies (Talwar et al, 2009;Bhanderi ISSN : 0974-9411 al., 2007;Sharma et al, 2006, Bakhtiar et al, 2003. Padma et al (2015) in a study on information technology employees also found that around 56 % had musculoskeletal symptoms, 54% had depression, anxiety, insomnia and 22% had newly diagnosed hypertension. In the absence of a good ergonomic design, extended work for prolonged periods can adversely affect vision, muscles of the neck, upper back, shoulders and arms, leading to visual and muscular fatigue and discomfort (musculoskeletal condition).…”

Best of Times, Worst of Times: Occupational Mental Health Research in India

“…The demographic variety which is unique to the country has added another dimension to the study of the cultural and behavioural impacts of these sudden changes. The employees in the Indian IT/BPO sector have been experiencing a number of mental health issues, especially stress-related problems [7]. This is one job sector which has seen a spurt of growth in the recent decades.…”

“…The association between workplaces and stress is not a topic of academic interest anymore. Even newspapers or popular media in India are discussing the same on a regular basis, along with academic research inputs [7]; [8]; [9]; [39].…”