Assessment of occupational stress level among pharmacists / Ema Nooryanti Bakri

The detrimental effects of job stress on personal health and economic lost had become a great issue of concern today. This study aims to determine the levels of occupational stress among pharmacists and to compare the occupational stress levels between respondents from different work settings. The data was collected by self-report mailed questionnaire, the Job Stress Survey (JSS). The JSS consists of two sections, I) Demographic and 2) Job Stress. The Job Stress section (60 items) was divided into two parts, Part A (30 items) for perceived severity and Part B (30 items) for frequency. Overall, 61 pharmacists (40.7% response rate) from four different work settings (community pharmacy= 16, hospital= 28, industry= 9 and academia= 8) in Klang Valley were involved. The majority were Malays (n= 30; mean age= 35; range= 24- 54) and had been working in current work place for 2-5 years. The statistical analysis used was non­ parametric Kruskall-Wallis test. The internal consistency reliability of all subscales in JSS instrument was high (Cronbach's alpha>0.8). Generally, the findings indicated that general level of stress for all pharmacists were at the lower end. It was found that the median for Stress Index scale (JS-X) was 16.43 (range= 0-8 I), Stress Frequency scale (JS­ F) was 2.97 (range= 0-9) and Stress Severity scale (JS-S) was 5.10 (range= 1-9). It was also found that there was no significant difference between stress level among pharmacists from the four different work settings (p>0.05). Further investigation on the subscales of JSS found that pharmacists in different work settings had different source and type of stress. Pharmacists from different work settings had experienced approximately equal level of stress. This study had contributed to the insights on occupational stress among pharmacists. Such information was important for enhancing the welfare and quality of life among pharmacists to provide high quality pharmaceutical care for the needing patients