Introduction: A large proportion of the urban population commute long hours for their daily work. Commute-associated stress and its symptoms were not .addressed in the population of Chennai Methods:148 commuters who commute to work by car for greater than one hour to the workplace and greater than one hour back home(Long commuters) and 104 persons who travel for less than one hour (short commuters) were considered as control. A stress symptom score questionnaire was used to assess the symptoms of stress and a perceived stress scale (PSS) was used to grade the stress levels as mild-moderate and severe. Results: In long commuters, the symptoms of stress were significantly increased than in short commuters. 20% 40% and 40% of mild, moderate and severe stress were reported in long commutes. In short commuters the prevalence of mild, moderate and severe stress was 45.5 %,50% and 4.5% Conclusion: Long hours of commute for work were associated with severe stress and a higher prevalence of stress symptoms than short hours of commute
Key words: Stress, mild stress, moderate stress, severe stress, PSS, Stress symptom score
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