Work-Related Stress and Associated Factors among Employees Working at Hotel Industries in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract Background: Globally, work-related stress is a significant public and occupational health problem. As a result of globalization and modifications in working conditions, work-related stress is rising in low-income countries. Unmanaged stress usually leads to psychological and even physical diseases, which harm individual career advancement and hotel operations, as well as the country as a whole. In Ethiopia, little attention is dedicated to this problem in the hotel industry, and studies among hotel employees are scarce. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of work-related stress and its associated factors among employees working at Hotel industries in Gondar City, Ethiopia. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June 9 to July 11, 2022 among employees working at Hotel industries in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia. A twostep multi-stage and cluster sampling technique was used to select 41 hotels with 729 study participants. Face-to-face interview with structured questionnaire was employed. The main findings were analyzed using descriptive analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were computed to measure the association between work-related stress and independent variables. AOR with 95% CI or P value of < 0.05 was used to declare a statistically significant association. Results: The overall prevalence of work-related stress was 43.3% with 95% CI (39.6, 47.04%). Factors such as non-star hotels [AOR: 2.19, 95%CI (1.48, 3.24)], two star hotels [AOR: 3.10, 95%CI (1.23, 7.81)], work experience < 2.5 years [AOR: 1.62, 95%CI (1.11, 2.37)], low job control [AOR: 5.17, 95%CI (3.32, 8.07)], high role conflict [AOR: 3.33, 95%CI (2.22, 5.00)], high job ambiguity [AOR: 1.77, 95%CI (1.20, 2.63)] and lack of social support [AOR: 1.54, 95%CI (1.04, 2.29)] were significantly associated with work-related stress. Conclusion: The prevalence of work-related stress was substantially high among hotel employees. The burden of work-related stress is exacerbated by hotel level/category, inadequate work experience, low job control, high role conflict, high role ambiguity, and lack of social support. The hotel owners and trade unions should jointly design a stress coping mechanism and provide clearly stated job descriptions with responsibility to minimize the identified problems. Keywords: Ethiopia, employee, hotel industry, prevalence, work-related stress