Impact of psychosocial factors on the housekeepers' mental health

Purpose. - To describe the relationship between psychosocial factors and mental health among housekeepers. Methods. - A cross-sectional study was conducted nearby all the housekeepers of Farhat-Hached teaching hospital of Sousse (Tunisia). After their oral consent, employees completed a self-administrated questionnaire including socio-demographic and lifestyle data, the Job Content Questionnaire (JCOJ evaluating psychological stress at work and the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (HSCL-25) studying mental health. Results. - Overall, 136 cleaners were enrolled in the study, corresponding to a response rate of 89.5%. The mean age was 41.9 +/- 7.7 years. According to the demand control model, 26.5% of the participants were in the situation of job-strain. The study of HSCL-25 scales revealed a positive mental health disorders in 50% of cases. The study of the psychosocial factors revealed a correlation between job-strain and urban origin (P = 0.007), high psychological demand and seniority in the cleaning sector (P = 0.030) and low decision latitude and the night work (P = 0.015). The mental health association were associated with unmarried status (P = 0.006), high psychological demand (P < 0.001), active employees (P = 0.037), and iso-strain (P = 0.013). Mental disorders were associated with a high psychological demand in the presence of a high decision latitude (OR = 9.2 [2.8-30.8]) and a job-strain in the presence of low social support (OR = 3.5 [1.2-10.4]). Conclusion. - Psychosocial factors can deteriorate seriously the mental health of workers. Their identification is the most important step in any efficient preventive strategy. (C) 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.