Occupational Stress and Its Correlates among Female Garment Factory Workers in Polgahawela MOH Area, Kurunegala

Abstract

Background: The garment industry contributes to fulfill majority of job opportunities in rural areas. In that female workers are the majority of the working personnel. Occupation related stress has become a major issue in Sri Lankan garment industry. Occupational stress influences on health of the workers as well as the productivity of the organization. Objectives: This study was aimed to assess the perceived stress and its correlates among female garment factory workers in Polgahawela MOH area, Kurunegala. Methodology: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted with 200 female garment factory workers from three garment factories within the Polgahawela MOH area in Kurunegala district. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The translated and validated Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was used to measure perceived stress. Ethical approval was taken from the ethical review committee of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna. Results and conclusions: Most of the study participants were sewing machine operators (54.5%), aged between 20 to 29 years (45.0%), married (61.5%) and had secondary education (93%). Mean age (±SD) of the sample was 29.98 (±9.16) years. Minimum PSS score obtained by the participants was 1 and maximum was 32. Mean PSS score (±SD) of the sample was 16.76 (± 6.21). Perceived stress was reported by majority of the participants (75.5%; n=151). Among the factors assessed, the age (p=0.009), religion (p=0.049), race (p=0.023), number of children (p=0.001), being the bread-winner of the family (p=0.007), residence (p=0.041), working hours per week (p=0.000), work load (p=0.045), obtaining leave (p= 0.000), target achievement (p=0.004), doing another job (p=0.020), noise (p=0.000), ventilation (p=0.003), sanitary facilities (0.000), exposure to abuses (0.020) and conflicts with colleagues (p=0.007) were significantly associated with the perceived stress. The study revealed that female garment factory workers in Polgahawela MOH area, Kurunegala were suffering from stress. Number of personal factors, job related factors and working environment related factors were associated with perceived stress of the female workers.