A STUDY TO ASSESS THE PREVALENCE OF ANXIETY AMONG FEMALE HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS IN SELECTED INSTITUTIONS

Maj Radhika Das; Lt Col Meena Chacko

Volume : V, Issue : X, October - 2016

A STUDY TO ASSESS THE PREVALENCE OF ANXIETY AMONG FEMALE HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS IN SELECTED INSTITUTIONS

Maj Radhika Das, Lt Col Meena Chacko

Abstract :

Background Every individual faces stress and anxiety at some point or other in their lives. For some anxiety can be helpful, increasing their productivity , while for some it can have deleterious effects. Lifetime and past year prevalence rates of anxiety disorders were 1.5 to 2 times as common among women as compared to men1. Also, among various professions, those participating in health care services were commonly found to suffer from high anxiety levels and psychosomatic illnesses. Undetected high Anxiety levels in health care professionals, especially nurses, who are a major force in the health care services, pose a great danger not only to self , but also to the patients under their care. It can also lead to negative organizational consequences and has been linked to a number of poor outcomes, such as lower morale, reduced job performance, increased tardiness, and absenteeism. It also seems to fuel job dissatisfaction, which is a precursor to staff turnover. Hence their arises an urgent need to address the issue of rising anxiety levels in nurses. Objective Objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of anxiety among female health care professionals in selected institutions and to identify the relationship between the level of anxiety of the female health care workers and the selected socio demographic variables. Methods A non experimental descriptive univariant cross sectional study was conducted in Aug 2015 using a self administered structured questionnaire among 121 nursing professional of selected institutions. Stratified Proportionate Sampling was carried out and questionnaire administered after taking informed consent. Prevalence of anxiety scores was calculated and their association with the selected socio demographic variables were carried out. Results The majority of the samples were in the age group 26– 30, maximum were having 1–5 years of experience and were working in general field. Maximum samples had two children and had husband as the support system. 82 of 121 subjects had no family member suffering from any chronic disabilitating illness. Prevalence of moderate and severe levels of State and Trait anxiety was 76 respectively and 2 had extreme levels of state anxiety. Anxiety levels had no significant association with any of the selected socio demographic variables except presence of chronic illness with state anxiety