Association of Long Duty Hours and Unhealthy Dietary Habits among Nurses at Private and Public Sector in Karachi, Pakistan

Authors

  • Zarina Shafi
  • Shireen Arif
  • Alia Nasir

Keywords:

Long duty hours; unhealthy dietary habits; nurses; skipping meals; non-communicable diseases; Pakistan

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the associations between long duty hours and unhealthy dietary habits
among nurses at private and public sector in Karachi, Pakistan
METHODOLOGY: In this cross-sectional analytical design 300 nurses were randomly selected from private
and
public
hospitals
between
months
of October
to December
2017.
The
data was
collected
through

structured
questionnaire
developed
by

Aryee PA 2013 containing two portions. The first part asks about
the demographic data including age, sex, marital status and ethnicity, whereas, the second part asks
about the anthropometry, job schedule, physical activity and dietary habits of the respondents.
RESULTS: The mean age of 300 study subjects was 30.78±8.47 years. Among them 61% nurses were
working as long duty hours. Nurses working in private sectors are more involved in the long duty hours
rather than nurses working in public sectors. Body Mass Index (BMI) of nurses was significantly relevant
with the long duty hours (P-value <0.05). The mean BMI of nurses with long duty hours were
BMI=25.78±7.35. Long duty hours were associated with skipping meal through Mann Whitney U test,
which was significant with P-value ? 0.05. BMI and age of participants was negatively correlated with
duty hours i.e. -0.116 & -0.239 respectively.
CONCLUSION: In conclusion, long duty hours are associated with the unhealthy dietary habits of the
nurses. The study recommended that nurses must reflect on their dietary habits to stay healthy and
prevent from non-communicable diseases. Nurse Managers should work efficiently so workload of
nurses could minimize and could reduce their duty hours.

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Published

29-04-2020

How to Cite

1.
Shafi Z, Arif S, Nasir A. Association of Long Duty Hours and Unhealthy Dietary Habits among Nurses at Private and Public Sector in Karachi, Pakistan. J Liaq Uni Med Health Sci [Internet]. 2020 Apr. 29 [cited 2024 Nov. 22];19(01):55-61. Available from: http://ojs.lumhs.edu.pk/index.php/jlumhs/article/view/277

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 01 (2020): Journal of Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences

Section

Original Articles

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