Perceived Stress, Life Style, Health Status Indicatiors in Medical Center Employees

일 의료기관 직원들의 지각된 스트레스, 생활습관 및 건강상태 지표

Purpose: The purpose was to examine the level of perceived stress, lifestyle, and health status indicators and identify the relationships among them in medical center employees. Method: This study utilized data from Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, health survey developed by National Health Insurance Corporation, and laboratory tests (such as liver enzyme or lipid profile) on 873 medical center employees. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 12.0 program through descriptive statistics, $x^2-test$, independent t-test, ANOVA and ANCOVA. Results: Perceived stress was relatively high, but lifestyle and health status indicators were good. Age, gender, and job were significantly related to perceived stress, life style, and health status indicators: younger employees, men, nurses reported higher stress; older employees, men and medical technicians reported worse life style; older employees, men and doctors showed more abnormal health status indicators. There was a significant relationship between perceived stress and life style: the higher the level of stress was, the more drinking or the more smoking they had. However, there was no clear relationship between perceived stress and health status indicators. Conclusion: Although the subjects' lifestyle and health status indicators were relatively good, their perceived stress was seriously high. Therefore, programs for reducing stress are necessary for medical center employees.