Level of Occupational Stress in Male and Female Rural General Practitioners

General practitioners (GPs) in five rural divisions in New South Wales completed questionnaires designed to assess the degree to which various stressors were present in their work environment; the degree to which these stressors distressed them; their general stress; and their general health. Results published in a previous paper showed that high occupational stress in doctors was associated with high general stress and poor general health. Results reported in this paper showed that male doctors were more stressed than female doctors, GPs working on a full-time basis were more stressed than those working on a part-time basis, GPs who were also working as visiting medical officers were more stressed than those who did not work in this capacity, and younger GPs were more stressed than older GPs. High workload, governments, interference with their work, and family and leisure concerns were the major stressors for rural GPs.