Digital assessment of multidimensional occupational stress among medical laboratory staff using the ‘Find My Stress’ progressive web application

Medical laboratory professionals work under high cognitive, biomechanical and psychosocial demands. However, task-specific stress evidence remains limited. This cross-sectional study assessed perceived workload, environmental exposures and body mass index (BMI)-adjusted handgrip strength among 116 laboratory staff in Thailand's private healthcare sector. Data were collected via the Find My Stress progressive web application (PWA), delivering the subjective workload index (SWI): Part 1 screens psychological workload across eight components; participants scoring SWI ≥ 2 then completed Part 2, rating stressors across six laboratory activities. Spearman correlations and regression identified key predictors. The SWI was strongly associated with posture, biomechanical strain, noise, heat and organizational conditions; hematology–chemistry departments reported the highest stress. Vibration correlated negatively with the SWI, suggesting short-cycle tasks carry lower cognitive demands than precision work. BMI-normalized handgrip strength indicated physical resilience. Posture, heat, vibration, noise and contextual demands were significant predictors (adjusted R2 = 0.634), supporting targeted interventions.