Unaiza Niaz, Sehar Hassan, Sobia Ali.
Stress in women physicians in Pakistan.
Pak J Med Sci Jan ;19(2):89-94.

Objective: To understand and evaluate practicing women physicians’ perception of physical and mental health, job stress, satisfaction, and level of professional knowledge. Methods: Specifically designed questionnaires for socio-demographic characteristics, physical and mental health, Self perception of medical knowledge and ability were distributed among 150 female doctors. The sample consisted of family physicians (n=41), specialists (n=57) and house officers (n=52). Only quantitative methods were used in the study to analyze the data. Findings: 71% of the women physicians perceived their physical health as good. 34% of the women physicians reported `high` level of stress. The level of stress was high among house officers (32%) and specialists (21%) than family physicians (12%). Conclusions: Most of the female doctors perceived their physical health as good and level of stress as `high` or `moderate`. Stress in female physicians leads to more time-off work, intake of antidepressant and smoking. Stressed doctors are also less likely to enjoy their practice.

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