Gayathri A V, Vincent Jose, Raju Aarya Serin, Anish Thekkumkara Surendran
Medical Consultant, WHO NTEP, Thrissur, Kerala, India.
Department of Community Medicine, Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, Thrissur, Kerala, India.
Indian J Community Med. 2025 Aug;50(Suppl 1):S109-S113. doi: 10.4103/ijcm.ijcm_53_24. Epub 2025 Feb 21.
Work ability, crucial for health and productivity, hinges on the balance between work demands and personal resources and is impacted by evolving factors. Effective occupational health practices and stress management significantly influence workforce well-being, especially in professions such as the police force. This study aimed to assess the work ability index (WAI) of police officers in a district of South Kerala and explore its correlation with the occupational stress index (OSI). The secondary objective was to find the sociodemographic factors associated with WAI and OSI. In this community-based cross-sectional study conducted from August 2018 to July 2019, 124 police officers in Kerala's Kollam district were selected via multistage cluster sampling. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on WAI and OSI and analyzed using appropriate statistical methods. The study involved participants with a mean age (SD) of 44.56 (5.98) years, of whom 56.5% were males. It was found that 2.4% had poor, 33.1% moderate, 37.9% good, and 26.6% had excellent WAI. The mean OSI score was 141.2 (SD: 20.8), exhibiting a significant association with the WAI. Police officers identified strenuous working conditions, role ambiguity, overload, unprofitability, and low status as major stressors. The poor WAI was also linked to multimorbidity. The study found that subjects generally exhibited good work ability based on their average WAI score, which correlated negatively with high work stress levels. It underscores the importance of training police officers in communication skills and implementing preventive measures to enhance workplace health and safety.
工作能力对健康和生产力至关重要，它取决于工作需求与个人资源之间的平衡，并受到不断变化的因素影响。有效的职业健康实践和压力管理对劳动力福祉有重大影响，尤其是在警察等职业中。本研究旨在评估喀拉拉邦南部一个地区警察的工作能力指数（WAI），并探讨其与职业压力指数（OSI）的相关性。次要目标是找出与WAI和OSI相关的社会人口学因素。在这项于2018年8月至2019年7月进行的基于社区的横断面研究中，通过多阶段整群抽样在喀拉拉邦科拉姆区选取了124名警察。使用由访谈员管理的问卷收集关于WAI和OSI的数据，并采用适当的统计方法进行分析。该研究的参与者平均年龄（标准差）为44.56（5.98）岁，其中56.5%为男性。结果发现，2.4%的人工作能力差，33.1%的人工作能力中等，37.9%的人工作能力良好，26.6%的人工作能力优秀。OSI平均得分为141.2（标准差：20.8），与WAI存在显著关联。警察们将艰苦的工作条件、角色模糊、工作负荷过重、无利可图和地位低下视为主要压力源。工作能力差还与多种疾病并存有关。研究发现，根据平均WAI得分，受试者总体上表现出良好的工作能力，而这与高工作压力水平呈负相关。它强调了培训警察沟通技巧以及实施预防措施以增强工作场所健康与安全的重要性。
