Identification of population groups at very high risk for frequent perception of stress in slovenia.

Aim: To identify population groups at very high risk for frequent perception of stress and thus enable more focused planning of prevention actions in Slovenia.

Methods: Data originate from the national survey carried out in 2001 on health behavior of 15,379 adults aged 25-64. The overall response rate of the mailed questionnaire was 64%, with 9,043 questionnaires eligible for analysis. Binary multiple logistic regression was used to determine the impact of gender, age, education, employment, self-assessed social class, type of residence community, and geographical region on the prevalence of frequent stress perception.

Results: The highest odds for stress were registered in women (OR(women vs men)=1.39, P<0.001), aged 40-49 years (OR(40-49 vs 30-39)=1.18, p=0.017; OR(50-59 vs 40-49)=0.73, P<0.001), participants with the lowest (OR(primary vs uncompleted primary education)=0.72, P=0.008) and the highest education levels (OR(college or higher vs secondary education)=1.26, P=0.022), unemployed participants (OR(unemployed vs housekeepers/students)=1.80, P=0.001), and administrative/intellectual employees (OR(administrative/intellectual employees vs housekeepers/students)=1.75, P=0.001), participants self-classified in the lowest social class (OR(labor vs lower)=0.50, P<0.001); residents from urban and suburban communities (OR(rural vs suburban/urban residence community)=0.86, P=0.037), and participants from the Eastern geographical region of Slovenia (OR(Eastern vs Western)=1.12, P=0.097).

Conclusion: In Slovenia, employed women, aged 40-49, with at least college education level were identified as the largest population sub-group at very high risk for frequent stress perception with at least minor difficulties in coping with these feelings, requiring specific public health measures to be introduced in this group.