Perceived stress and health behaviors among nurses in Poland and Slovakia: a cross-sectional comparative study

Abstract

Occupational stress represents a substantial burden on nurses’ physical and mental health and has been associated with less favorable health behaviors. Despite the large body of research on occupational stress, there is still a lack of comparative studies examining the relationship between perceived stress levels and health behaviors among nurses in Central European countries. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between perceived stress levels and health behaviors among nurses employed in healthcare institutions in Poland and Slovakia, as well as to examine the associations of selected sociodemographic and occupational factors with the variables analyzed. A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted involving 307 nurses, including 145 from Poland and 162 from Slovakia. An original survey questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and the Health Behavior Inventory (HBI) were utilized. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. The level of statistical significance was set at p  < 0.05. No significant differences were found between nurses from Poland and Slovakia in perceived stress levels ( p  = 0.551). Nurses from Slovakia had significantly higher scores for overall health behaviors, positive mental attitude, and preventive behaviors ( p  < 0.05), while the difference in health practices was at the threshold of statistical significance ( p  = 0.049; Monte Carlo p  = 0.050). In both groups, significant negative correlations were found between perceived stress levels and health behaviors (ρ ranging from −0.179 to −0.427; p  < 0.05). The study groups differed in terms of age and length-of-service distributions, which should be taken into account when interpreting between-group comparisons. Higher levels of perceived stress were associated with less favorable health behaviors in both groups of nurses. Despite similar levels of perceived stress, nurses from Slovakia achieved higher overall health behavior scores than nurses from Poland. Given the cross-sectional design of the study and the sociodemographic and occupational differences between the groups, between-country comparisons should be interpreted with caution. The findings highlight the importance of interventions aimed at reducing occupational stress and promoting health-enhancing behaviors among nursing staff.