Relationship between job stress by effort-reward imbalance and work-related and medical accidents among medical professionals at university hospitals in Japan

Abstract

We conducted a questionnaire survey among nurses, medical doctors, radiological technologists, and pharmacists in 2020 to identify the factors explanatory associated with work-related and medical accident risks among medical professionals at university hospitals in Japan. Participants were divided into high- and low-risk groups based on their experiences of work-related and medical accidents from the last year before the survey, and their mental health, job-related stress by effort-reward imbalance, and time factors were compared. Among them, 22% of nurses, 16% of medical doctors, 17% of radiological technologists, and 18% of pharmacists were in the high-risk group. Moreover, the high-risk groups, except for pharmacists, had significantly poor health statuses than the low-risk groups. Nurses and medical doctors in the high-risk group had significantly longer working hours and more night shifts than the low-risk groups. This study highlighted that job stress was significantly and independently associated with a high risk of work-related and medical accidents in all occupations, even when adjusted for confounding factors, health status, and time factors. The study suggested that mitigating and controlling stress would reduce accident risk among medical professionals performing interpersonal work.