Psychological distress, burnout and personality traits in Dutch anaesthesiologists: A survey

BACKGROUND: The practice of anaesthesia comes with stress. If the demands of a stressful job exceed the resources of an individual, that person may develop burnout. Burnout poses a threat to the mental and physical health of the anaesthesiologist and therefore also to patient safety. OBJECTIVES: Individual differences in stress appraisal (perceived demands) are an important factor in the risk of developing burnout. To explore this possible relationship, we assessed the prevalence of psychological distress and burnout in the Dutch anaesthesiologist population and investigated the influence of personality traits. DESIGN: Survey study. SETTING: Data were collected in the Netherlands from July 2012 until December 2012. PARTICIPANTS: We sent electronic surveys to all 1955 practising resident and consultant members of the Dutch Anaesthesia Society. Of these, 655 (33.5%) were returned and could be used for analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Psychological distress, burnout and general personality traits were assessed using validated Dutch versions of the General Health Questionnaire (cut-off point ≥2), the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Big Five Inventory. Sociodemographic variables and personality traits were entered into regression models as predictors for burnout and psychological distress. RESULTS: Respectively, psychological distress and burnout were prevalent in 39.4 and 18% of all respondents. The prevalence of burnout was significantly different in resident and consu...
Source: European Journal of Anaesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Tags: Safety in the workplace Source Type: research