Physical Activity and Associated Factors on Work-Related Stress of Bank Officers in a Government Bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Stress is the feeling of being overwhelmed or being unable to cope with mental, and emotional pressure. Employment in a bank can be stressful due to increased screen time, feeling of confinement and uniformity during work. The objective of this study was to identify the workrelated stress levels, its association with physical activity and other factors among the employees of a selected government bank in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This was a cross sectional study with an analytical component. Convenient sampling was used to select 110 participants. International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) with some modifications were administered online to collect sociodemographic, work-related stress, physical activity and other data. Response rate was 95.5% (n=105). A high work-related stress was seen in a greater majority (74.3%, n=78) of bank employees. More than half of the participants (52.3%, n =55) had a low physical activity level and one third (33.3%, n=35) had a high physical activity level. A statistical significance was not seen between the sociodemographic characteristics and the level of work-related stress. Level of physical activity (p=0.609), average sitting time (p=0.080), supervisor (p=0.747) or co-worker support (p=0.314) didn’t seem to be associated with work-related stress. Majority of bank employees are suffering from work-related stress. Though none of the factors seemed to be statistically associated with work-related stress, many had a low level of physical activity. Further evidence is required to explore the relationship between physical activity and work-related stress and to identify other related factors.