Occupational stress and its influence on workers' health in off-shore oil industry in China.

摘要

Purposes. To identify perceived sources of occupational stress, its determinants and influence on the health of Chinese off-shore oil installation workers.; Methods. A cross-sectional study design was employed. A total of 561 off-shore oil installation workers were interviewed using a self-administered questionnaire adopted from Cooper's. Contents included socio-demographic variables, perceived sources of occupational stress, Type A behaviour pattern, social support, coping style, health-related behaviours, mental health, work-related injuries, gastrointestinal disorders, and musculoskeletal complaints.; Results. Data from the workers on the sources of their perceived stress were analyzed using factor analysis. Nine factors emerged from 51 items of occupational stressors. These were “interface between job and family/social life”, “career and achievement”, “safety”, “management problem and relationship with others at work”, “physical environment of workplace”, “living in environment on installation”, “managerial role”, “ergonomics”, and “organizational structure”.; Construct, discriminant and concurrent validity, and internal consistency test proved that the scale for measuring perceived stress from work was a valid and reliable tool.; Further analysis showed that perceived stress from “physical environment of workplace”, “safety”, “interface between job and family/social life”, and “career and achievement” were the most common sources among the nine occupational stress sources identified in the present study.; Age, educational level, job titles, the “impatience/hard driving” and “speed/ambition” components of Type A behaviour pattern, and instrumental support from supervisors, wives, and friends, and emotional support from friends respectively affected the workers' perception of stress from the nine sources in different ways.; The analysis of the influence of occupational stress supported the hypothesis that perceived stress from the different sources affected the workers' health-related behaviours, mental ill health, work-related injuries, gastrointestinal disorders, and musculoskeletal complaints in the different body areas after controlling for potential confounding factors. Other psychosocial factors, such as different Type A behaviour components, instrumental and emotional support from different sources and coping style, were also associated with the health problems.; Conclusion. The Chinese off-shore oil installation workers perceived stress from many sources. Various socio-demographic and psychosocial factors at work had different impact on their perception of stress. The level of perceived stress was associated with different health outcomes.