Publication:

Study of occupational stress among the workers of micro, small and medium enterprises, Bengaluru

Background Occupational stress can cause mental and physical illnesses, resulting in high costs for the individual, the economy and society. Due to globalisation and changes in the nature of work, people in developing countries have to deal with increasing occupational stress. In a developing country like India, the contribution of MSMEs is highly inevitable. This study aimed to study of occupational stress among the workers of micro, small, and medium enterprises.

Methods The present study was conducted among 350 workers of different MSMEs of Kottegepalya, a periphery of Bengaluru city. Those enterprises were selected whose owners had granted permission and were willing to co-operate. The data was collected through a face-to-face interview based cross-sectional survey, using a structured questionnaire which consists of socio-demographic data, occupational stress responses for assessment of occupational stress, and factors responsible for occupational stress. Chi Square, Fisher's exact test, adjusted Odds ratio and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.

Results The overall prevalence of occupational stress was 78.57%, out of those 46% workers had mild occupational stress. Majority of the workers 28.57% had an emotional response. Occupational stress was higher 95.23% in age group of 50 years; males had higher prevalence of 80.23%. Among all the socio-demographic factors; age and marital status and education were significantly associated with occupational stress (p<0.05).

Conclusions The present study showed an increasing trend of occupational stress among workers. There is a need for interventions aimed at mitigating the occupational stress among MSMEs workers.