Abstract

In an era of uncertainty and falling oil prices, addressing work-related stress plays a vital role in maintaining safe operations, productivity, and decreasing turnover.

Employees have access to a confidential assessment which considers their lifestyle, health status, work and life outside of work. One section of the assessment measures psychological stress and job satisfaction. Psychological stress has been implicated as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, cancer and weight changes.

This cross-sectional analysis aimed to examine the association between psychological stress, job satisfaction, and weight gain.

Self-administered health risk assessments from over 6000 employees were assessed. Questions about satisfaction with work decisions, job effort reward, time pressures at work, stress from mental fatigue at work were used to create a stress satisfaction score. Prevalence of stress was calculated and multivariate regression analyses, stratified by sex and age groups, were conducted.

Over 70% of respondents who reported stress assigned the cause of stress to be work-related. Female respondents indicated more stress than satisfaction in the workplace (p value=0.00). Respondents who identified as morbidly obese were 36% more likely to report more stress than satisfaction (p value=0.00); those who identified as underweight were 40% more likely to report more stress than satisfaction at work (p value=0.03).

This analysis shows that certain groups are at higher risk of experiencing more stress than satisfaction at work. This can serve as a baseline to monitor stress levels and changes in employees’ weight over time and can help target wellness interventions at the appropriate groups.