Measuring Chronic Stress in the Emergency Medical Services

Abstract

This study validates an instrument assessing work-related chronic stress in emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. The instrument was distributed to a systematic probability sample of EMS personnel (N = 1633). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor, 34 item solution (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin = .943, χ² = 23344.38, df = 561, p ≤ .001). Confirmatory factor analysis suggested a two-factor, 20 item solution (χ² = 632.67, df = 168, p < .001, root mean square error of approximation = .06, comparative fit index = .92, Tucker-Lewis Index = .91, standardized root mean square residual = .04). The factors demonstrated good internal reliability as well as acceptable convergent, discriminant, and predictive validities. Chronic workplace stress may lead to psychological distress; this validation contributes to the tools available to assess the health and well-being of EMS providers.

KEYWORDS:

• chronic stress
• confirmatory factor analysis
• emergency medical services
• exploratory factor analysis
• scale development
• workplace stress

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the National Registry of EMTs (NREMT) for their support of this project.