Work stress and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in nurses and office workers: a comparative study.

Objectives . This study aims to compare the work stress and obsessive-compulsive symptoms of nurses and office workers and to determine the relationship between work stress and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Methods . A total of 127 nurses and 127 office workers participated in the cross-sectional study and comparative study. Data were collected using the perceived work stress scale and the Maudsley obsessive-compulsive inventory. Results . Nurses had higher work stress scores ( p  = 0.003) in general than office workers. In particular, nurses with a low ( p  < 0.039) and average ( p  < 0.007) economic status, nurses who had been employed for 1-10 years ( p  < 0.001) and nurses working 40 h per week ( p  < 0.042) had higher work stress scores than office workers. There was no difference ( p > 0.05) between obsessive-compulsive symptom scores. There was a positive significant relationship ( p  < 0.001) between work stress and obsessive-compulsive symptom scores of nurses and office workers. Work stress explains 6.1% of the obsessive-compulsive symptoms in nurses and 12.4% in office workers. Conclusion . The results of this study concluded that work stress of nurses is higher than that of office workers and work stress affects the obsessive-compulsive symptoms in both groups.