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Occupational Health Problems of Call Center Workers in India: A Cross

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Journal of Management Science and Practice Aug. 2013, Vol. 1 Iss. 2, PP. 63-70

Occupational Health Problems of Call Center

Workers in India: A Cross Sectional Study Focusing
on Gender Differences
Arun Vijay Subbarayalu*1
*1
Office of KG Pain Relief and Occupational Rehabilitation Center,
KG College of Physiotherapy, KG ISL Campus,
Saravanampatti Post, Coimbatore-641035, Tamilnadu, India
*1
sjarunvijay@gmail.com

Abstract- PURPOSE: This research paper is designed to outline and document the most critical Occupational Health Problems of
Call Centre Workers in India. A Cross Sectional Study design was adopted to capture the prevalence of Occupational Health
Problems consisting of Physical, Mental and Psychosocial health issues with specific reference to both the Genders. METHODS: Call
Centre Workers (N=180) of both genders belonging to selected Information Technology Enabled Service Industries (ITeS) located at
three metropolitan Cities in India formed the population of this study. 60 Samples from each Industry had been selected using a
criterion sampling methods. A self-designed pre-tested Questionnaire tool was used to capture the prevalence of self-reported Health
complaints among the Call Centre Workers. A Simple percentage technique was adopted to document the proportion of Workers
having Occupational Health problems and the Z tests for two proportions were utilized to test the significance between Men and
Women Call Centre Workers with respect to its Occurrence. RESULTS: 58% of Call Centre Workers reported that they had
experienced some form of Work-related Musculoskeletal Health (WRMSHs) Problems in the preceding 12 months. Low back Pain is
the more prominent WRMSHs among Call Centre Workers in which 40% of them were reported to have that problem; Neck Pain
(24%) is the next most frequently reported musculoskeletal health Problem. Besides Musculoskeletal Health problems, a significant
proportion of Workers reported to have Eye, Ear and Throat related problems. Moreover, the Psychosocial and Mental Health
problems were also noted among the Call Center Workers. This study demonstrated a significant difference between the Men and
Women Call Centre Workers with respect to the Occurrence of Selected Occupational Health problems. CONCLUSION: This Study
concluded that the Occupational Health Problems in the form of Physical, Mental and Psychosocial Health Problems are widely
reported among the Call Centre Workers and an appropriate prevention strategy needs to be carried out in order to enable them to
work effectively.
Keywords- Occupational Health Problems; Call Center Workers; Information Technology Enabled Service Industries; India.

I. INTRODUCTION
A Call Center (CC) is defined as a Place where contacts are made and received and it is often the front door to a business
where most crucial customer interaction takes place. It is a work environment in which the main business is conducted via the
telephone whilst simultaneously using display screen equipment. To be precise, the main focus of Call Centers is generally to
provide product support and information to customers, by telephone, and occupationally by mail, fax or email. Thus, the work
at Call Center includes not only attending telephone calls, but also includes handling various types of interactions. Thus, the
functions of Call Center Work include: Work Force Management, Technology Management, Financial Management, Quality
Management and Reporting & Communications (North American Quit line Consortium, 2010).
Historically, the Call Centers have their origin in the USA, where they started in 1908 when it became possible to use the
telephone to sell advertisements in the telephone book. Due to advancement of new Information and Communication
Technologies, these Call Centers have taken a new dimension by offering business through remote services via Internet and/or
telephone. Eventually, the Call Center Business has grown very fast in which the workforce belonging to this industry in USA
is 5% and it is 2% in United Kingdom (Data Monitor, 1999). In spite of the existence of this industry from the year 1908, the
Occupational Health Problems of Call Center Workers were first noted as early as 1999 in a study initiated by the London
School of Economics and International Federation of Commercial, Professional and Technical Employees (FIET). Moreover,
the Symptoms and Health problems caused or aggravated by work are common (Martimo et al, 2007). Earlier studies also
indicated that the musculoskeletal Health problems were more frequently reported symptoms among the Information
Technology Employees in India (Arun Vijay, 2013a). Specifically to the Call Center Employees, a previous study was done
and it recorded the common Health problems of Call Center Workers which include: Physical Health Problems expressed in
form of musculoskeletal disorders, digestive disorders, eye, voice and hearing problems; Psycho-social problems such as
disruptive family relations, poor recreation opportunity, immoralities such as alcohol and tobacco use, and faulty eating habits;
Mental health problems consisting of sleep disturbances, anxiety, mental stress and disturbance in biological rhythms (Bhuyar
P et al, 2008).

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Journal of Management Science and Practice Aug. 2013, Vol. 1 Iss. 2, PP. 63-70

The Call Center Work is characterized by fewer opportunities for variation in work task and longer working shifts in front
of computers lead to long continuous sedentary work with little variation and it has been shown to be associated with
musculoskeletal disorders (Tittiranonda et al, 1999; Karlqvist et al, 2002). Moreover, the patterns of work in Call Centers are
much standardized to create relatively uniform and repetitious activities so as to achieve economies of scale and consistent
quality of customer service. This weakens employee autonomy and enhances the potential for management control. Loss of
control is generally understood to be an important indicator of work related stress (Bhuyar P, 2008). Thus, the employees of
call center sector have the daily experience of repetitive, intensive and stressful work that frequently results in employee
“burnout” which is characterized by impaired sleep. The impaired sleep may play a role in the development of exhaustion in
burnout (Ekstedt et al, 2006). Drake et al (2004) demonstrated that individuals with shift work sleep disorder are at risk for
significant behavioral and health related morbidity. Also, an increased Job pressure prevailing at the Call Centers may also
adversely affect social health of the Employees (Bhuyar P, 2008). Broadly, the Health and Safety hazards and risks in Call
Centers can be categorized as: Nature of Work (i.e. Computer based Work, Working Posture and customer relations), Work
Organization (i.e. Work Management and People management) and, Work Environment (Physical and Psychosocial Work
Environment).
Previous Studies had been conducted on the Call Center Workers with respect to their various Work-related Health
problems (Vivienne Hunt et al, 2010; Jurgen Wegge et al, 2010; Barbara Charbotel et al, 2009; Bhuyar, et al, 2008; Kerstin
Norman et al, 2004). However, this present study is the first of its kind o fresearch conducted to explore the Occupational
Problems of the Call Center workers working at Indian Call Centers with a special emphasis to document the gender
differences on the prevalence of Physical, Mental and Social health Problems. The Physical health problems studied include:
the Occurrence of both Physical health problems consisting of Musculoskeletal, Eye, Ear and Throat related symptoms. The
Mental Health Problems consisting of Anxiety, depression, Job stress and sleep disturbances were studied. As an exploration,
this study also addressed the impact of Psychosocial Problems on Worked related Health of the Call Center Workers. The
Psychosocial Health problems studied include: disturbed family differences, poor recreation facilities, and the depravities such
as habits of using alcohol and tobacco etc. In the present study, all the Health issues were captured from the self-reported
symptoms expressed by the Center Workers in the Questionnaire tool and such method has been supported by previous studies
especially in the field of Industrial Health research (Martimo et al, 2007; Collins et al, 2005).

II. MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. Study Design
A Cross sectional design was adopted to study the prevalence of Occupational Health Problems of the Call Center
Workers in India.

B. Subjects
The Call Center Workers (N=180) working in the private Information Technology Enabled Service Industries located at
Three metropolitan cities (Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore) in India formed the population of this study. Three corporate
Information Technologies Enabled Industries were covered with 60 samples recruited from each industry using criterion
sampling methods. The criterion for including the samples in to this study includes: Age (i.e. 25-40 years), duration of working
hours (at least 4 hours a day or 20 hours per week); working only in night shifts and those who are willing to participate in the
study. Throughout the study, care was taken to protect anonymity of the Participants’ Personal details.

C. Methodology
A Self-designed Health and Wellness Questionnaire was developed by adopting various Standard Tools such as Nordic
Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, Hamilton Depression scale, The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, Voice Handicap index
(Lyberg-Ahlander et al, 2010), Computer Vision Syndrome Questionnaire, and General health questionnaire (GHQ-12).This
Questionnaire was designed by keeping in view of the nature of Call Center Work and its work-related potential health hazards
to capture major Health outcomes. (i.e. Physical, Mental and psychosocial Health problems). The Questionnaire consists of
two parts: Part-1 is concerned with Biographical Information of the subjects and the Part-2 concerned with Health Outcomes in
which the perception of subjects about the Health Illness was captured using a binary scale Outcome (i.e. ‘Yes’ or ‘No’).
The reliability for this Questionnaire tool has been tested using Repeatability or test-retest reliability method (Bland and
Altman, 1986; Robert et al, 2003) and it was found to be a reliable tool. With respect to the Musculoskeletal Health Problems,
only the primary musculoskeletal complaints of the subjects were taken into consideration for the purpose to this study. All the
subjects were distributed with the Health and Wellness Questionnaire along with the covering letter briefing the purpose of this
study. Questionnaires were distributed to 180 participants covering Call Centre Units belonging to the Three ITeS Industries
with 60 samples recruited from each Industry using Criterion Sampling methods. 151 completed questionnaires were returned
along with signed Informed Concern form. The response rate was measured as 84%.

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Journal of Management Science and Practice Aug. 2013, Vol. 1 Iss. 2, PP. 63-70

III. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF FINDINGS

The reporting of the occurrence of the Occupational Health Problems among the Call Center Workers with specific
reference to the Musculoskeletal, Psychosocial and Mental health problems were analyzed using Simple Percentage
techniques. The prevalence of Musculoskeletal Health Problems reported in this study was based on the Primary Health
complaints recorded by the participating Call Center Workers through Health and Wellness Questionnaire tool. The Z test for
two proportions was used to test the significant difference between the genders with respect to the Occurrence of Occupational
Health Problems.
TABLE I MAGNITUDE OF GENDER SPECIFIC DISTRIBUTION OF MUSCULOSKELETAL
HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG THE CALL CENTER WORKERS IN INDIA

Occurrence of Symptoms that lasted for

Genders more than 3 days in the last 12 months
N % Gender difference
Men (N=89) 49 55
6*
Women (N=62) 38 61
Both Men & Women
87 58 NA
(N=151)
*Significant at 0.05 Level (Z>1.96)

The Table I show gender specific distribution of the primary musculoskeletal health problems experienced by the Call
Center Workers participated in this study. The occurrences of the Musculoskeletal Health problems with respect to the last 12
months were captured. From the analysis, it was inferred that 58% of subjects were reported to have one particular symptom as
their primary musculoskeletal complaint in the last one year. The Gender differences were tested for statistical significance
using Z test for two Proportions and were found to be statistically significant at 0.05 level of significance. Women Workers
were more prone to Musculoskeletal Health Problems than Men Call Center Workers.
TABLE II MAGNITUDE OF GENDER SPECIFIC DISTRIBUTION OF LOCATION SPECIFIC MUSCULOSKELETAL
HEALTH PROBLEMS OF CALL CENTER WORKERS IN INDIA.

Occurrence of MSDs Occurrence of MSDs

Human Body Annual Disability
during last 12 Months during last 7 Days
Location
N % N % N %
Lower Back 39 40 24 38 8 35
Neck 24 24 13 21 5 22
Wrists and Hands 17 18 9 14 3 13
Shoulder 10 10 10 16 2 9
Other sites 7 8 7 11 3 13
Total (N)=151 97 64 63 42 21 14

Table-II shows the Distribution of Musculoskeletal Health problems with respect to different body locations in the Call
Center Workers. It can be seen that over both time frames, Low back pain was the most frequently reported. 40 % of the
samples had experienced such problems in the past 12 months, and 38% during the past week. In the present data, Lower
back, Neck, Wrists & Hands, and, Shoulder problems were the next most frequent types of Musculoskeletal symptoms with
Annual prevalence of 35 % for Lower back problems, 22% for the neck, 13% for Wrists & Hands and 9 % for Shoulder
problems.
TABLE III MAGNITUDE OF GENDER SPECIFIC DISTRIBUTION OF EYE RELATED PROBLEMS
AMONG THE CALL CENTER EMPLOYEES IN INDIA

Males Females
(N=89) (N=62) Gender Difference
S.No Eye related problems
(%)
N* % N %
1. Eye Strain/Tired Eyes 29 33 22 36 3*
2. Dry Eye or Burning Eye 26 29 19 31 2*
Frequent Tearing &
3. 18 20 15 24 4*
Watering Eye
4. Blurred Vision 16 18 8 13 5*

*Significant at 0.05 Level (Z>1.96)

The Table III shows the Gender Specific Distribution of Eye related Problems among the Call Center Employees in India.
Eye strain and Tired Eyes were the most frequently reported. 33 % of the Men samples and 36% of Women samples had
experienced such problems while working on Computers. Further, Dry & Burning eyes, Frequent tearing, and, Blurred vision
were the next most frequent types of Eye problems reported by the participating Call Center Workers. Further analysis was
carried out on the prevalence of Eye related problems with respect to both genders among the Call Workers using Z test for
two proportions, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference between the genders. Overall, Women Call
center workers were more prone to higher prevalence of Eye strain/tired eyes and other eye related problems than the Men Call
Center workers.

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Journal of Management Science and Practice Aug. 2013, Vol. 1 Iss. 2, PP. 63-70

TABLE IV MAGNITUDE OF GENDER SPECIFIC DISTRIBUTION OF THROAT AND EAR RELATED

PROBLEMS AMONG THE CALL CENTER EMPLOYEES IN INDIA

Ear & Throat Males Females

S.No related (N=89) (N=62) Gender Difference
problems * (%)
N % N %
Ear related problems
1. Pain in Ears 21 23 25 40 17*
2. Acoustic Shock 24 27 19 31 4*
Throat related problems
1. Sore Throat 62 70 45 73 3*
2. Voice Loss 55 62 40 65 3*
3. Breathlessness 52 59 39 63 4*
*Significant at 0.05 Level (Z>1.96)

The table IV indicates the magnitude of gender specific distribution of Throat and Ear related problems among the Call
Center Workers in India. Among the Men employees participated in this study (N=89), 23 % of them experienced pain in Ears
and 27% of them experienced acoustic shock during their career as Call Center Worker. Similarly, among the Women workers
participating in this study (N=61), 40% of them experienced Ear pain and 31% of them registered their complaints of having
acoustic shock during their Working Life. The Table IV also depicted the Throat related problems of the Call Center
employees. Among the Men Employees participating in this study (N=89), 70% of them experienced Sore throat, 62% of them
experienced Voice Loss and, 59% of them experienced breathlessness during their working life. Similarly, 73% of Women
Workers experienced Sore throat, 65% experienced Voice loss and 63% experienced Breathlessness during their working life.
When analyzing the prevalence of all the Ear, and Throat related problems with respect to both genders among the Call
Workers using Z test for two proportions, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference between the genders.
Overall, Women Call center workers have slightly higher prevalence of Ear and Throat related problems than the Men Call
Center workers.
TABLE V MAGNITUDE OF GENDER SPECIFIC DISTRIBUTION OF MENTAL HEALTH
PROBLEMS AMONG THE CALL CENTER WORKERS IN INDIA

Males Females
Mental Health Gender Difference
S.No (N=89) (N=62)
problems (%)
N* % N %
1. Anxiety 30 34 40 65 31*
2. Depression 20 23 33 53 30*
3. Sleep Disturbances 44 49 32 52 3*
*Significant at 0.05 Level (Z>1.96)

The table V illustrates the gender specific distribution of Mental Health Problems among the Call Center Workers in India.
Among all the Workers responded, 34% (N=30) of Men reported that their work always keep them anxious. Contrarily, 65%
(N=40) of the Women reported that they are frequently prone for Anxiety like symptoms during their work. Similarly, 23%
(N=20) of Men and 53% (N=33) of Women reported that they are frequently prone to depression due to their work-rated
issues. Ironically, 49% of Men (N=44) and 52% of Women (N=32) are prone to sleep disturbances. When analyzing the
prevalence of all the Mental Health problems with respect to genders among the Call Workers using Z test for two proportions,
it there was found that was a statistically significant difference between the genders. Overall, Women Call center workers have
slightly higher prevalence of Mental Health problems than the Men Call Center workers.
TABLE VI MAGNITUDE OF GENDER SPECIFIC DISTRIBUTION OF PSYCHOSOCIAL HEALTH
PROBLEMS AMONG THE CALL CENTER WORKERS IN INDIA

Males Females
Psycho-social Health Gender Difference
S.No (N=89) (N=62)
problems (%)
N* % N %
Disruption in the balance of
1. 6 7 10 16 9*
Work-Family Life
Difficulty to spent time for
2. 46 52 37 60 8*
recreational Opportunities
Adoption of faulty Food
3. 30 33 10 16 17*
Habits (i.e. Junk Foods)
Adoption of habits or vices
4. like Alcohol/Tobacco 25 28 0 0** -
(Cigarettes)
*Significant at 0.05 Level (Z>1.96): **No Females reported such Habits

The table VI illustrates the Psycho-social health problems faced by the Call Center Workers in India. Among the total
number of Men studied (N=89), 7% (N=6) of them reported that they have disruption in the balance of their Work-Family life.
Contrary to this findings, 16% (N=10) of Women reported that they face difficulty to balance their Work-Family Life.
Moreover, 33% of Men adopted a faulty food habits whereas only 16% of the Women have such problems during their work

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Journal of Management Science and Practice Aug. 2013, Vol. 1 Iss. 2, PP. 63-70

timings. Furthermore, 28% (N=25) of Men espoused the habit of consuming Alcohol or Tobacco or both to overcome the
Work Pressure. Interestingly, No Women reported to have such habits. When analyzing the prevalence of all the Psychosocial
Health problems with respect to both the genders among the Call Workers using Z test for two proportions, it was found that a
statistically significant difference was established between the genders. Overall, Women Call center workers have slightly
higher prevalence of Psychosocial Health problems than the Men Call Center workers.

IV. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

This research article is the documentation of the Occupational Health Problems experienced by the Call Center workers in
India. For the purpose of exploring this research problem at a broader level, a wider representation of samples had been
adopted by considering the Call Center workers employed at three Metropolitan cities in India. To adopt uniformity in the
selection of Samples in this study, a Criterion based sampling approach was used by the researcher. The criteria adopted by
Arun Vijay, 2013a for the Information Technology professionals were used in this study by customizing it in to the Call center
Workers. The criteria for including the samples in this study were: Age (between 25 to 35 years), Working Hours (at least 4
hours per day) and, the employees working at the specific domain of Call Centers (i.e. Customer Service Representatives).
Only the younger age groups of Workers were included whose mean age was 27.5 years. The criteria of fixing minimum of 4
hours per day as a critical working hours was supported by previous studies that it is a critical time for the development of
musculoskeletal disorders in employees working with visual display Unit (Rossignaol et al., 1987).
In this study, the Occupational Health Problems of the Call Center Workers were analyzed with respect to three critical
health problems experienced by them consisting of Physical, Mental and Social Health Problems. To facilitate that, a Self-
designed Health and Wellness Questionnaire (HWQ) for Call center Workers was developed and the reliability of this
questionnaire tool was tested using test-retest reliability methods (Bland and Altman, 1986; Robert et al, 2003) and it is found
to be a reliable tool.
With respect to the Occurrence of Musculoskeletal Health Problems in the Call Center Workers, 61% of Women and 55%
of Men reported to have some form of musculoskeletal problems in the last 12 months; 35% of Men and 45% of Women
reported that they have experienced one or more Musculoskeletal health problems over the past seven days. This result is in
conformance with the findings of earlier studies done by Bhuyar et al, 2008 who demonstrated that Physical Health problems
in the form of musculoskeletal disorders were common among the Call Center Workers. Thus, the result of this present study
indicates that the musculoskeletal health problems are widely reported by the Call Center Workers. One explanation for these
findings is that the Call Center operators use computers interactively during telephone calls when facing time pressure and
direct performance monitoring. Repetitive movements of upper extremities and prolonged constrained static sitting postures
contributed to physical discomfort experienced by Computer workers. These risk factors along with the above pressures may
increase the risk of physical discomfort.
Specifically, Low Back Pain is the most frequently reported Physical health Problem among the samples of this present
study. Such result is contrary to the findings of the previous study done by Barbara Charbotel et al, 2009 who demonstrated
that the most frequently reported symptoms in the Call Center workers was Neck Pain followed by Upper limb problems.
Several risk Factors are contributing to this difference in prevalence of musculoskeletal problems among the Call Center
Workers which include: Work station environment, degree of Mobilization and levels of constrained posture, awareness levels
and practices of workers regarding computer ergonomics (Sharma et al., 2006). However, exploring such risk factors
contributing to this difference in the prevalence rate was beyond the scope of this study and further research is warranted.
Further, a significant proportion of samples in the present study reported Eye related symptoms. The common eye related
problems reported by the employees consisting of Eye strain where 33% of Men and 36% of Women reported such symptoms.
Next to that, 29% of Men and 31% of Women reported to have dry eye following their work with computer. Similarly, 20% of
Men and 24% of Women are experiencing problems such as frequent tearing and watering eye while working on the computer
for a long time. Conformance to the findings of this present study, a previous study reported that most common eye problem
among the Call Center workers was dryness (26.9%) and Headache due to eye strain (15.4%) (Bhuyar et al, 2008). When
analyzing the gender specific distribution of the Eye related problems among the Call Center Employees in this study, it is
found that Women workers are more prone to eye related problems than the Men workers in Call Centers.
Further exploration is done on the Throat and Ear related problems among the Call Center workers in this study, it is found
that 23% of Men and 40% of Women experiencing Pain in Ears which is in coincidence to the findings of previous study done
by Bhuyar et al, 2008. Similarly, 27% of Men and 31% of Women are experiencing Acoustic Shock. Acoustic shock is caused
by (i) sudden spike and unexpected noises, typically on a Phone line (from feedback to the headsets or a sudden change in
Volume); (ii) background noise from Incoming Call and; (iii) Background noise and other stressors in the work place (Watson
BW, 2003). As a result of this, the Call Center operators are described being shocked by the Incident and experiencing a range
of symptoms including pain in Ears, tinnitus (ringing in ear), Vestibular (balance) disturbance, and hyperacusis (sensitivity to
noise). Oddly, 73% of Women and 70% of Men Call Center Workers in the present study reported that they are frequently
experiencing throat related problems such as Sore Throat at the end of the working day. Similarly, over 50% of the Men
Workers and more than 60% of Women workers had registered their concern that they are frequently exposed to other throat
related symptoms such as Voice loss and Breathlessness following their Work activities. Such result is in conformance to the

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findings of previous study which indicated that over 75% of the Call center Workers had varying degrees of throat problems
sometimes or the other problems affecting their voice such as hoarseness, irritating cough, inability to modulate voice and
breathing difficulties (Bhuyar et al, 2008).Further exploration is carried out to analyze the gender specific distribution of the
Throat and Ear related problems among the Call Center Employees in this present study; it is found that Women workers are
more prone Throat and Ear related problems than the Men workers in Call Centers.
While taking the physical health Problems as whole into consideration, it is found that the Call Center workers are more
prone to such problems. This the findings of this present study is supported by the previous study which demonstrated that
work-related symptoms of hoarse or painful throat, musculoskeletal discomfort and eye strain are common among call center
operators in telecommunication companies. Female operators had significantly higher prevalence of physical discomforts and
stress than male operators (Yen-Hui Lin et al, 2009). One reason for this gender differences may be due to difference in the
occupational exposure among the men and women (Dennis t al, 2000). But, in the present study, all the subjects were
performing a similar type of job. Moreover, two other studies also indicated that women were more often exposed in working
conditions related to work tasks with low variability and work-rest probabilities (Kilbom et al, 1998; Harenstam et al, 2001).
So, the possible explanation would be even in the same occupations, men and women had different work tasks with different
durations and variations that accounts for this gender difference in the present study.
As an insight in this study, a proportion of subjects who experienced mental health problems due to their nature of work are
explored. It is found that 65% of Women are prone to Anxiety and 52% of them are depressed due to their nature of work.
Contrary to these findings, only 34% of Men are prone to Anxiety type symptoms and 23% of them are prone to depression.
Reverse to the expectations, Over 50% of the employees irrespective of gender are prone to sleep disturbances. Disturbed sleep
as reported by half the number of workers in the present study is a sign of fatigue and occupational burn out (Ekstedt et al
2006, Akerstedt, et al, 2007). Also, inadequate sleep is a chronic problem among shift workers, who report getting less than 6
hours of sleep per night as opposed to the recommended 7.5 hours (National Sleep Foundation (NSF), 2008). There is also a
greater incidence of sleep disorders (NSF, 2011) and extreme fatigue (Dorrian et al., 2011) among shift Workers. Drake et al
(2004) also demonstrated that individuals with shift work sleep disorder are at risk for Significant behavioral and Health related
morbidity. Further investigation is carried out in this study to analyze the gender specific distribution of the Mental Health
problems among the Call Center Workers; it is found that Women workers are more prone to Mental Health problems than the
Men workers in Call Centers. A recent study also supported the findings of this study that inadequate sleep and interpersonal job
stress which is unique to call center employment, was associated with negative physical health reports and suggested an
appropriate, timely interventions targeted at teaching relevant coping skills to employees in the call center industry (Anjali et al,
2013).
The Psychosocial health problems experienced by the Call Center employees were also explored in this study. There is a
significant difference between both Men and Women noted while analyzing the existence of Psychosocial Health Problems
among the Call Center workers. In this present study, 60% of Women indicated that they have difficulty spending time for
recreational activities whereas only 46% of the men agree to this issue. 16% of the Women are facing difficulty in balancing
the Work and Family Life against which only 6% of Men are experiencing this problem. This finding of the present study is
contrary to the findings of the previous study which demonstrated that moderate proportions (60%) of Information Technology
Enabled service employees are able to balance their Home-Work life (Arun Vijay, 2013b). This difference may be attributed to
the nature of Job where such study was conducted on Medical Transcription employees (Non Voice Based Job) whereas the
present study was conducted on Call Center employees (Voice Based Job). Additionally, the present study also indicated that
33% of Men are adapted to the habit of consuming Junk foods and only 16% of the Women have acquired that Habit.

V. CONCLUSION
The Occupational Health Problems in the form of Physical, Mental and Psychosocial Health Problems are widely reported
among the Call Center workers belonging to the Information Technology Enabled Service Industries in India. The most
common Physical Health Problems reported was the occurrence of musculoskeletal problems in which 61% of Women and
55% of Men has reported to have some form of musculoskeletal problems in the past 12 months; 35% of Men and 45% of
Women reported that they have experienced one or more musculoskeletal symptoms over the past seven days. Other Physical
Health Problems that are frequently reported among the Call Center Workers are Eye, Ear and Throat related symptoms. In
addition to that, Psychosocial and Mental Health Problems are also widely reported by the participating Call Center Workers.
Furthermore, there is a significant difference between both the Genders with respect to the Occurrence of Occupational Health
Problems among the Call Center Workers. Women are more prone to all the three Health Problems studied than Men. This
study cautions both the Policy Planners and the Human Resource Managers of Information Technology Enabled Service
Industries to take appropriate prevention strategies to optimize Health and Wellness of the Employees so as to enhance their
Productivity.

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

The Author expressed his gratitude to Dr.P.C. Sekar, Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Studies, Department of
Management studies, Madurai Kamaraj University for his technical inputs and Guidance towards the completion of this

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research article. The author also thanks Dr. Balasubramanian, Joint Director, Department of Economics and Statistics,
Chennai, India for his Statistical Inputs. Finally, the author expressed his special Thanks to all the Information Technology
Enabled Service Industrial Workers who participated in this study and registered their Objective response.

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Mr. Arun Vijay Subbarayalu was born on 14th April 1976 at Tamilnadu, India. He completed his Undergraduate
degree in Physical Therapy during the year 1997 from the Tamilnadu Dr. MGR Medical University, Chennai, India.
Following that, he pursued his Master degree in Physical Therapy with specialization in Sports Physical Therapy from
the Tamilndau Dr. MGR Medical University during the year 2001. Further, he did his Master degree in Business
Administration (MBA) and graduated his MBA degree in the year 2006 from the University of Madras, Chennai,
India. Consecutively, he completed his Post graduate diploma in Hospital Administration from Alagappa University,
Tamilnadu, India during the year 2008.
He started his academic career as TUTOR in Physical Therapy at KBYS College of Physical Therapy in the year
1998. After his Master Degree in Physical Therapy he joined KG College of Physiotherapy, Coimbatore, India as
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR. During his professional career at KG Institutions, Coimbatore, India, he was promoted a
PRINCIPAL/PROFESSOR of Physical Therapy in the year 2006. During his tenure as Physical Therapy Educator, he has published seven
research articles and a text book on “MCQs IN SPORTS PHYSIOTHERAPY WITH EXPLANATORY ANSWERS (ISBN:
9789380704159), published by Jaypee brothers and Medical Publishers, New Delhi, India in the year 2010.
Prof. Arun Vijay is a life member of Indian Association of Physiotherapists and he is currently holding the membership of Health
Professions Council of United Kingdom as PHYSIOTHERAPISTS. He had been honored with a BEST TEACHER AWARD by the
Tamilnadu Dr. MGR Medical University, India during the year 2010 for his exemplary contributions in the Field of Physical Therapy in
India.

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