Level of perceived stress among female emergency call operators during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Introduction and objective: Women comprise the majority of emergency call-takers and dispatchers (ECDs) in Poland. This workplace requires high mental resilience, control and tolerance of unpredictable events. Working during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic may have been particularly overburdening for female ECDs. The aim of the study was to estimate the level of perceived life stress and its relationship with marital status, number of children, education level, workplace requirements, and number of shifts.

Material and methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 308 women working in 14 emergency call centres during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey employed The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). A multivariate analysis of the effect of multiple variables on the quantitative variable was conducted using the linear regression method.

Results: The study confirmed the assumption about the high level of perceived stress during the first wave of the pandemic. It was revealed that for one-third of the women, the level of perceived stress was high and related to the number of on-call duties and the number of children at home. Higher education co-occurred with higher levels of women's helplessness, while being married co-occurred with its lower levels. There were differences in the level of stress due to workplace requirements.

Conclusions: Female ECDs face additional life stress because of the gender roles. In the analysis of the effects of the pandemic, the gender dimension should be taken into account in the assessment of public health.