Screening for Occupational Stress in Resident Doctors: A Preliminary Study

Background: Medical profession is highly demanding and stressful; however, only a few studies have examined the level of occupational stress in resident doctors. Methods: New Job Stress Scale (NJSS) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) were used to estimate occupational stress and psychological morbidity in resident doctors. Receiver operator characteristic analysis was used to estimate the cutoff on NJSS to screen for clinically significant stress. Results: 60% of the resident doctors rated positive on GHQ-12. With a threshold of GHQ-12 as 3, the cutoff of NJSS with maximum Younden Index (0.48) was 63.5 (Sensitivity 65% and Specificity 84%); with 42.5% of resident doctors having a score higher that the cutoff value. Conclusions: A large number of resident doctors experience high levels of stress and psychological morbidity. NJSS can be used to screen resident doctors for clinically significant stress.