Assessment of Work-Related Psychosocial Factors among Primary Healthcare Employees

Abstract

Employees in the healthcare field repeatedly face psychosocial risks at work ‎that could impact their well-being, including job satisfaction and physical and mental ‎health. Primary healthcare settings require complex cognitive processes, multitasking, and ‎interpersonal contact with patients and are therefore contexts where staff will be ‎challenged to manage work stresses. This study aims to investigate work-related ‎psychosocial factors among healthcare employees in primary healthcare centres in the ‎Saudi Arabia and determine common stressors. Method: An observational cross-sectional ‎study was performed in Saudi Arabia from January to May 2024. Altogether, 80 healthcare ‎employees from Primary Health Care (PHC) centers, including physicians and nurses ‎currently employed at the PHC. From February to June 2024, 80 healthcare employees ‎working in primary healthcare centres in Saudi Arabia completed an anonymous online ‎questionnaire including sociodemographic questions, as well as selected subscales from ‎the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II (COPSOQ II), which included the ‎quantitative demands, cognitive demands, possibilities for development, meaning of work, ‎recognition, and social support from supervisors and coworkers. Ethical approval for the ‎investigation has been obtained from the IRB committee of the Royal Commission Health ‎Service Program (RCHSP) in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Descriptive statistics were performed ‎to assess the responses, and Cronbach's alpha reliability statistics were performed on the ‎sub-scales. Ethical approval was granted through the Royal Commission Health Services ‎Program IRB in Jubail. Results: Questionnaire results revealed that the participants rated ‎the Meaning of Work (2.87± 0.39), Cognitive Demands (2.84± 0.51), and Colleague Social ‎Support (2.86± 0.27) all high, and the responses indicated strong internal motivation and ‎relationships with peers. The reward, supervisor, and commitment to workplace scores ‎were moderate and suggested areas for attention. Respondents rated quantitative ‎demands as low (1.95±0.54) and indicated that they can manage their workload. ‎Conclusion: The research identified cognitive demands as the primary stressor, whereas ‎job meaning, peer support, and professional development serve as protective factors ‎consistent with the Job Demands-Resources model. Organizational support was ‎moderate, exhibiting gaps in recognition and supervisory involvement. Sociodemographic ‎characteristics were insignificant, suggesting that stressors are systemic. Future research ‎must be conducted to assess influencing elements and establish causal frameworks to ‎create feasible action plans that enable the reduction of the effects on the health of ‎employees in healthcare services.‎

Keywords: Psychosocial Risks, Stressors, Healthcare Employees.

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007941