Evaluating General Health and Related Factors Among Employed Women in Healthcare Staff: A Cross-sectional Study

One of the main goals of healthcare systems is to maintain and promote women’s health. According to the literature, different factors, such as demographic characteristics, occupational status, stress, culture, and epidemics, can affect women’s health. This study aimed to determine the health status of employed women and its association with their demographic characteristics.

This analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted on 325 women working in healthcare centers affiliated with Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Gilan Province, Iran, in 2019. After receiving their informed consent, the study subjects were chosen by random group sampling method. The study data were obtained using a General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Data analysis was performed by the Chi-square test at a significant level of 0.05 in SPSS software, v. 23.

The Mean±SD age of the study women was 42.10±8.19 years, and 52.63% of them were nurses, 16.92% physicians, 19.39% midwives, and 11.7% health workers. Based on the present study results, 39.7% of the participants are suspected of having a health disorder or problem. According to the analysis, significant relationships were observed between women’s health and variables of age (P≤0.0001), level of education (P=0.03), occupational status of spouse (P≤0.0001), income level (P=0.02), and place of residence (P≤0.0001). Nevertheless, no significant association was found between women’s health and marital status and place of birth.

Improving the health of healthcare staff requires special attention and appropriate supportive measures. Given the stressful conditions of healthcare staff, cognitive and behavioral interventions to improve work-life balance can enhance their performance regarding patient care while promoting their welfare.