The relationship between anger with general health in emergency personnel

Abstract

Context: The emergency staff work in stressful environments and deal with critically ill patients. The occupational nature of their work is such that they are always at risk of being exposed to work violence by patients or patient companions. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between anger with general health in emergency personnel. Setting and Design: This was a correlational study that was done in prehospital emergency services and hospital emergency departments in Golestan province, in Iran in 2019. Materials and Methods: The study conducted on 400 of emergency personnel. Samples were selected through multistage sampling. The sampling design included stratified sampling, cluster sampling, and convenience sampling in the first, second, and third stage, respectively. Data were collected using demographic, Spielberger s anger, and general health questionnaires. Statistical Analysis Used: Description of sample under study presented using mean, standard deviation, and frequency. Assessment of associations was performed using Mann– Whitney and correlational analysis at significance level of 0.05. Results: The mean total score of anger of emergency personnel was 121.94 ± 14.66 and for the prehospital and hospital emergency personnel were 123.53 ± 14.08 and 119.38 ± 15.26, respectively (P = 0.002). The mean total score of general health was 12.40 ± 4.22 and for prehospital emergency and emergency personnel were 12.23 ± 4.18 and 12.67 ± 4.29, respectively (P = 0.75). There was a positive and significant correlation between all three dimensions of general health and all three dimensions of anger so that with increasing anger, general health decreased. Conclusion: Emergency personnel were in good general health while their anger score was above average. Furthermore, there was a significant inverse correlation between anger and mental health, so that by increasing the dimensions of anger expression, the general health of prehospital and hospital emergency staff was reduced.