Abstract
Objectives: The aims of this study were to analyze the job stress of clinical hygienists according to their positional system and to confirm its relevance. Methods: Seven hundred seventy six clinical dental hygienists participated in this survey. The questionnaire items consisted of general characteristics, working environment, and job stress. The data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS statistics ver.23.0 software. Results: Among the job stresses, the stress on the job demands was the highest with 63.4 points, and the stress on interpersonal conflict was the lowest with 34.6 points. The total score of job stress was the highest in the 26-30 year-old age group, and major stress factors in this group were job insecurity, organizational system, and lack of reward. Team members were more stressful about insufficient job control, organizational system, and lack of reward than team managers, while team managers were more likely to score interpersonal conflict. The dental hygienists in the hospitals that did not have the positional system got more stressed in the insufficient job control, organizational system, and lack of reward area. Conclusions: The presence of positional system was related to job demand, insufficient job control, organizational system, and lack of reward. Structural efforts such as establishing a proper positional system in dental clinics will be needed to control job stress in the clinical dental hygienists.
