Evaluating of the Occupational Stress and Its Relationship with the Maximum Aerobic Capacity and Physical Activity Level in Bank Staff

Occupational stress occurs when there is no coordination between the needs of the job with the individual abilities and desires. Physical ability of individuals is determined using the maximum aerobic capacity (VO2max), which is the maximum capacity to work during the shift.  The higher the aerobic capacity, the easier it is for a person to perform strenuous activities. The purpose of this study was to investigate occupational stress and its relationship with the maximum aerobic capacity and physical activity level in bank staff.

This cross-sectional study was performed among 82 bank staff that was selected by simple random sampling. To assess the Occupational stress, physical activity and VO2max, the Iranian version of HSE occupational stress and IPQA questionnaire and step test were respectively used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-20 software. p≤0.005 was considered significant.

In this study, bank employees were ranked in severe to moderate, well and moderate categories in terms of occupational stress, Vo2max and level of physical activity, respectively. There was also a significant relationship between occupational stress and age, weight, physical activity and VO2max (p≤0.05). But there was no significant relationship between occupational stress and height and BMI.

According to the results, the level of physical activity and especially Vo2max are considered as one of the factors affecting occupational stress. It seems that in order to reduce occupational stress and thus improve productivity, efforts to improve the level of physical activity and Vo2max are necessary.