Prevalence and associated factors of stress in the Malaysian Police Force.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to determine the prevalence of stress and the associated socio-demographic and work factors among police personnel in Metropolitan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


METHOD
A cross-sectional study was conducted in two randomly selected police districts in Kuala Lumpur from 2009 to 2011. A total of 579 police officers from 11 police stations and two headquarters participated in this study. The 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress questionnaire was used. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were carried out to examine the effect of socio-demographic and work factors on stress.


RESULTS
The overall prevalence of stress was 38.8% (95% CI 34.2, 43.6) with 5.9% (3.9, 8.8), 14.9% (11.6, 18.8) and 18.0% (14.5, 22.2) for severe, moderate and mild stress, respectively. Inspectors were more likely to suffer from severe stress (aOR 10.68, 95% CI 3.51, 32.53) compared to junior officers. Those who complained that their salaries were not commensurate with their jobs were more likely to suffer from moderate levels of stress (aOR 2.73, 95% CI 1.43, 5.22) compared to those who were happy with their salaries.


CONCLUSIONS
This study strengthens findings that police job is stressful. Special attention needs to be paid to Inspector-level ranks and the remuneration structure of police officers to address this issue.
['Masilamani|Retneswari|R|', 'Bulgiba|Awang|A|', 'Chinna|Karuthan|K|', 'Darus|Azlan|A|', 'Isahak|Marzuki|M|', 'Kandiben|Shathanapriya|S|', 'Koh|David|D|']
D000328:Adult D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D005260:Female D006801:Humans D016015:Logistic Models D008296:Malaysia D008297:Male D009784:Occupational Diseases D016495:Police D015995:Prevalence D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales D012720:Severity of Illness Index D013315:Stress, Psychological
Police officers Income Job characteristics Police rank Police stress Stressors