Occupational stress and related influencing factors among obstetric medical staff in tertiary hospitals under the universal two-child policy

Background The implementation of the universal two-child policy has resulted in increased and heavy obstetrics workload and occupational stress of obstetric medical staff which should not be ignored.

Objective This study investigates the prevalence of occupational stress and its influencing factors among obstetric medical staff in tertiary hospitals after the implementation of the universal two-child policy.

Methods Statistics of obstetric workload and staff turnover were collected in two tertiary hospitals in Suzhou from 2014 to 2020. Through convenient sampling, questionnaires were distributed to 296 obstetric medical staff from the two tertiary hospitals from August to December 2020. The questionnaire survey contained a general information questionnaire and the Occupational Stress Inventory-Revised which consisted of three subscales: occupational role, personal strain, and personal resources. Comparisons were made to scores of occupational stress across different characteristic groups. The variables with significant differences were included in multiple linear regression models.

Results From 2014 to 2020, the per capita admissions for obstetrics in the selected two hospitals in Suzhou peaked in 2016 and 2017, and then declined to a stable level. However, the per capita admissions of high-risk pregnant women, length of work, frequency of night shifts, and turnover rate all increased year by year. A total of 279 valid questionnaires were collected, and the valid recovery rate was 94.26%. The scores of occupational role, personal strain, and personal resources of the obstetric medical staff were 190.52±18.75, 108.63±15.17, and 121.24±15.08, respectively. The participants with higher professional titles, positions, and frequencies of overtime work showed higher occupational role scores (P < 0.05); those with shorter working years, higher frequencies of night shifts, and higher frequencies of overtime work had higher personal strain scores (P < 0.05); individuals with shorter working years, lower positions, and higher overtime work frequencies had lower personal resources (P < 0.05). The independent influencing factors for occupational role were professional title, position, and frequency of overtime work (R²=0.196, F=27.845, P < 0.001); for personal strain, the factors were working years, night shift frequency, and overtime work frequency (R²=0.214, F=21.407, P < 0.001); for personal resources, the factors were working years and frequency of overtime work (R²=0.168, F=24.816, P < 0.001).

Conclusion A high occupational stress level is identified among the obstetric medical staff in selected tertiary hospitals. It is recommended to increase resource allocation and reduce night shift and overtime work frequencies to relieve occupational stress of obstetric workers.