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Abstract
Background: Occupational stress is a significant global health issue within the healthcare sector, negatively impacting professionals' well-being and patient care quality. Radiology staff face unique stressors, including radiation exposure and high patient turnover. This study aimed to identify the most frequent occupational stress factors among radiology employees in tertiary care hospitals in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted over four months with 125 radiology technicians and technologists from four hospitals. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire assessing 15 potential stress factors. Descriptive statistics were performed using SPSS version 22 to calculate the frequency of each stressor, stratified by occupation and gender.
Results: The participants comprised 76% males and 24% females, including 60% technologists and 40% technicians. The most prevalent stressors across the sample were poor communication with patients (88/125, 70.4%), fear of radiation exposure (86/125, 68.8%), and noise in the workplace (86/125, 68.8%). Other major factors included overwork in the department (79/125, 63.2%), fear of infection (74/125, 59.2%), inadequate leaves (73/125, 58.4%), and not being paid enough (72/125, 57.6%). Stress from harassment was reported more frequently by female (33.3%) than male (4.2%) participants.
Conclusions: Radiology employees in Peshawar experience high levels of occupational stress, primarily driven by interpersonal, environmental, and systemic factors. Addressing these issues through improved communication training, optimal staffing, fair compensation, and enhanced safety protocols is crucial to safeguarding staff well-being and ensuring high-quality radiological services.