Abstract
BackgroundOpportunities for face-to-face communication with patients is increasing in modern hospital pharmacist practice. This may impose new burdens on hospital pharmacists. We performed a cross-sectional study to examine the prevalence of psychological distress, burnout, and compassion fatigue among hospital pharmacists. We also investigated possible relevant factors, such as sex, years of experience, hospital size, interpersonal work hours, and personality traits related to communication.MethodsWe mailed self-administered questionnaires to all pharmacists (n = 823) belonging to the prefectural society of hospital pharmacists in Japan. The questionnaires were the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), Burnout (BO) and Compassion Fatigue and Secondary Traumatic Stress (CF/STS) subscales of the Professional Quality of Life Scale, the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), and the Adult ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) Self-Report Scale (ASRS). We examined associations between personality traits (AQ, ASRS) and psychological burden (GHQ-12, BO, CF/STS) using rank ANCOVA or multivariate logistic regression analyses.ResultsComplete responses were obtained from 380 pharmacists (46.2 % response rate). A substantial number of participants obtained scores that were higher than the cutoff points of the GHQ-12 (54.7 %), BO (49.2 %), and CF/STS (29.2 %). The GHQ-12 scores were negatively affected by years of experience (p < 0.001), and positively affected by AQ (p < 0.001) and ASRS (p < 0.001) scores. The BO scores was positively affected by AQ (p < 0.001) and ASRS (p = 0.001) scores, while the CF/STS (p = 0.023) score was negatively affected by years of experience, and positively affected by AQ (p < 0.001) and ASRS (p < 0.001) scores.ConclusionsThere is a high prevalence of psychological distress and work-related burnout/CF among hospital pharmacists. Additionally, two common personality traits, such as autistic-like traits and ADHD-like symptoms, which might be related to communication style, could increase the risk of psychological distress and burnout/CF. Early risk assessment and preventive interventions that are specialized for these characteristics could protect individuals with these specific traits from burnout.
Highlights
Opportunities for face-to-face communication with patients is increasing in modern hospital pharmacist practice
In 2014, the Okayama Prefectural Society of Hospital Pharmacists officially reported that there were 823 hospital pharmacists with a median of 11 years of work experience after being qualified as a pharmacist, data were missing for 10 individuals
We found a relatively high level of burnout/compassion fatigue (CF), where 49.2 % of the individuals in our sample were facing a high risk of burnout, and 29.2 % were at high risk of CF (Table 1)
Summary
Opportunities for face-to-face communication with patients is increasing in modern hospital pharmacist practice. Pharmacists may be exposed to the emotional responses of angry patients with aggression [2], be required to provide direct patient care under the direction of a physician [3], and facilitate the distribution of information and advice between patients and other healthcare practitioners [4]. Healthcare professionals, such as radiologists who have little contact with patients, have occupational stress, such as effort/reward imbalance, high job demands and limited autonomy, and low social support [5]. As with other healthcare professionals, high requirements regarding interpersonal communication can impose physical and psychological burdens on pharmacists
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