The impact of chronic work stress on overall health

Abstract

Background: Chronic work stress has become a pervasive issue in modern workplaces, with significant implications for employee health. Prolonged exposure to stressors such as excessive workloads and performance pressures can lead to detrimental psychological and physiological outcomes, including mental health disturbances, cardiovascular issues, sleep disorders, and unhealthy coping behaviors. This study aims to investigate the impact of chronic work stress on the overall health of working adults.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 290 full-time employees from various professional sectors. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire comprising three sections: socio-demographic information, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) to measure work stress, and a Health Status Questionnaire (HSQ) to assess physical and psychological health outcomes. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, and multiple regression in SPSS version 26.

Results: The findings revealed that a majority of participants experienced moderate (53.4%) to high (24.2%) levels of work stress. Significant negative correlations were found between chronic work stress and self-rated health (r = -0.52, p < 0.001) and sleep quality (r = -0.45, p < 0.001). Positive correlations were observed between stress and chronic fatigue (r = 0.48, p < 0.001) and frequent headaches (r = 0.41, p < 0.001). Furthermore, stress levels were significantly associated with age, education level, and years of professional experience.

Conclusion: Chronic work stress is significantly associated with adverse health outcomes, including poor self-rated health, sleep disturbances, chronic fatigue, and psychosomatic symptoms. These results underscore the need for organizations to implement comprehensive stress management and wellness programs to mitigate these effects, thereby protecting employee health and enhancing organizational productivity.