Background:
According to the WHO, COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the health, well- being of people worldwide. Healthcare workers (HCWs) represent a particularly vulnerable group due to increasing work stress. Our study aimed to describe the prevalence of job strain among healthcare workers (HCWs) in private clinics in Sousse and evaluate the association between job strain and mental health

Methods:
A cross-sectional study conducted among HCWs working in private clinics Sousse, from September 2020 to November 2020. The calculated sample size was 454 employees. In collaboration with the Group of Occupational Medicine of Sousse (GOMS), convenience sampling was conducted to include 5 private clinics and GOMS. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) used to assess anxiety and depression disorder and the KARASEK model to assess work-related stress.We used SPSS 20 software for statistical analysis.

Results:
A total of 543 participants with a female predominance (68.3%) and a sex ratio of 0.36. The mean age was 34.15±8.73 years. The prevalence of job strain was 17.5% (n=95). It was higher in women (19.1%) than men and in employees between 25-35 years (18.4%). Also, employees who had certain anxiety according to the HADS scale were more predisposed to have a Job-Strain (25.9%) than those with doubtful or no anxiety (p=0.002). The same for employees suffering from certain depression were more likely to have a job strain with a percentage (24%) than those with doubtful or no depression (p=0.007). Being a laborer was significantly associated to having a job strain (24,2%) than the others job positions (p=0.035). Conclusion: HCWs are at the forefront of combating any emerging diseases, which increases the risk of job strain and mental health problems. Studying our COVID-19 experience can help us be more prepared in case of another health emergency or pandemic.