Application of mixed methods for exploration of the association of job stress and hypertension among software professionals in Bengaluru, India

CONTEXT: Quantitative and Qualitative studies have been widely used in isolation to estimate several associations in developing countries, but little is known about combining both methods in a given study and ascertains validity. AIMS: The objective of the following study was to accurately measure the constructs and to check for the internal consistency whereas measuring occupational stress among software professionals. We compared contextual stressors developed from the qualitative study with occupational stress index (OSI) among Information Technology/Information Technology Enabled Service (IT/ITES) professionals in India. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: We employed mixed methods sampling strategy for selecting the IT/ITES professionals for the study. The first stage involved a qualitative study followed by a cross-sectional study among 1071 workers in the IT and ITES sector in Bengaluru. MATERIALS AND METHODS: There were two types of stress domains used in the questionnaire. First, contextual stress domains, which were constructed based on the results of the qualitative study. Second, we used OSI for computer workers. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data from the cross sectional survey was analyzed using SAS 9.1.(SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). We used Cronbach's coefficient alpha for analyzing latent constructs of OSI and contextual stress domains. RESULTS: The results indicate that OSI doesn’t correlate well with contextual stressors. CONCLUSIONS: OSI is a generic questionnaire designed for a computer worker and using the contextual stressors based on the results from the qualitative study might capture the occupational stressors more reliably.