Quality of working life in relation to occupational stress, anxiety and depression of workers in primary and secondary healthcare workplaces.

Abstract

Background Healthcare professionals work in a demanding working environment, due to which they may develop high levels of stress, anxiety and depression. Aims To assess the quality of working life of healthcare professionals and to investigate the association between stress, anxiety and depression and the quality of working life. Methodology: A cross-sectional study implemented in two primary healthcare centers and a general hospital in Greece, between January to February 2020. A total of 248 healthcare professionals participated. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS 21) and the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) were used. Results Healthcare professionals had normal stress (10.11), depression (6.69), anxiety (5.10) and appeared to had moderate quality in their working life. The quality of the working life was found to be influenced by educational level, as the level of education increases, occupational burnout (p = 0.015) and secondary traumatic stress (p = 0.001) decrease. Correlation of the demographic characteristics of the sample and the DASS-21 scale showed that as the level of education increases, depression, stress and anxiety decrease (p < 0.05). Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that increased depression, anxiety and stress were associated with increased occupational burnout and secondary traumatic stress and on the other hand, decreased depression, anxiety and stress were associated with increased compassion satisfaction. Conclusions The study emphasized the significance of the management of healthcare organizations to achieve a reduction of stress, depression and anxiety among healthcare professionals in order to ensure a better-quality working life.