Stress and Minor Psychiatric Morbidity among Nigerian Executives: Some Socio-demographic and Biological Correlates

BACKGROUND: Stress among “the executives” often arises from the demands of leadership and other social responsibilities. AIM: This study aims to determine factors associated with stress and minor psychiatric morbidities among Nigerian executives. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 337 management cadre staff attending a health workshop, from various private organizations and belonging to different professional groups participated in this study. They completed the general health questionnaire-12 and a proforma for basic demographic and work data. The data was analyzed using SPSS for Windows, version 15 (Chicago IL, USA). The distribution of the outcome measure (GHQ Likert Score) was skewed and so data obtained was analyzed using non-parametric tests. RESULTS: Certain cardiovascular and biochemical assessments were also carried out. Low overall stress level and a psychiatric morbidity prevalence of 14.2% (48/337) were found. The female and the unmarried executives were more vulnerable to stress. Subject's pulse rate and blood cholesterol level appeared to be valuable as stress indicators. CONCLUSION: The overall stress level is low, and it is associated with certain biological measures (pulse rate and blood cholesterol). The author suggested that the need for mental health services in the workplace for the entire workforce.