Levels of occupational stress by sex and age among workers in Asunción, Paraguay: A descriptive cross-sectional study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21780953Keywords:
occupational stress, workers, occupational health, sex, age, ParaguayAbstract
Introduction: Occupational stress is a growing concern in organizational settings, with implications for workers' physical and mental health. The magnitude and distribution of stress may vary according to sociodemographic characteristics such as sex and age. Objective: To describe levels of occupational stress and their distribution by sex and age among workers from organizations in Asunción, Paraguay. Materials and methods: Quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional and descriptive study. Thirty-three workers were included through non-probability convenience sampling from a reference population of 300 people. Occupational stress was assessed with the ILO-WHO Occupational Stress Questionnaire, comprising 25 items on a seven-point frequency scale. Sample characteristics, the distribution of stress levels by sex and age group, the items with the highest mean scores, and the correlation between age and total stress score were described. Results: Of the 33 participants, 21 (63.6%) were women and 12 (36.4%) were men. Low stress predominated in men (58.3%) versus women (47.6%); the highest stress level was observed only in women (9.5% versus 0.0% in men). By age group, low stress predominated among workers aged 33 years or older (64.3%), whereas the intermediate level predominated in the 28–32-year group (66.7%). The items with the highest mean scores related to perceptions of management policies, availability of work equipment and excess administrative paperwork. The correlation between age and total stress score was essentially null and not significant (r = 0.068; p = 0.708). Conclusions: In this small, non-probabilistic sample of workers from Asunción, occupational stress was heterogeneously distributed by sex, with a somewhat higher proportion of women at the highest levels, while no relationship was observed between age and total stress score. These findings are descriptive and do not allow causal inferences or generalization beyond the evaluated context.
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