Abstract
Background: International studies have shown that among physicians working in intensive care, a relatively high level of work load, an elevated risk of developing burnout and reduced mental health are frequent. The implementation of a legislative intervention in Germany with the goal to reduce the working hours of physicians, offered an opportunity to investigate the potential influence of occupational conditions on stress and mental health. The present study investigates working conditions, occupational stress and burnout risk in two samples of German Intensive Care Physicians in 2006 and 2016. The aim was to assess how occupational and private stress factors influenced burnout and Effort-Reward-Imbalance indices over this time-period.Methods: Intensive care physicians were surveyed during the annual conference of their profession in two cross-sectional studies (10-year gap). Data on demographic (occupational, family), medical history, and mental health (burnout and Effort-Reward-Imbalance) were assessed by paper pencil questionnaires.Results: In total, N = 2,085 physicians participated (2006: N = 1,403, 2016: N = 695), with N = 1,840 (2006 = 1,248; 2016 = 592) eligible for propensity score matching comparison. In general, more working hours per week and working days on weekends were associated with an increased effort/reward imbalance and higher burnout scores. From 2006 to 2016, reductions in working hours per week and days worked on weekends were accompanied by improvements in occupational stress (Effort-Reward-Imbalance) and by trend in mental health indices (burnout) after matching for differences in working conditions.Conclusions: The study presents the changes concerning occupational stress factors and mental wellbeing in physicians working in intensive care in 2016 as compared to 2006. These findings may promote the implementation of preventive strategies in the vocational context to protect health and productivity of physicians, especially intensive care physicians.
Highlights
The association of occupational stress and burnout with various types of health care professionals and the consequences for patients, employees, and institutions has gained increasing attention over the last two decades
In accordance with the literature above, we focused in especially on the interaction between working time, professional stress experience and the dimension “Emotional Exhaustion” in burnout
The participants were informed on the cover page of the questionnaire that they agreed to participate by filling in the form and submitting it anonymously to the collection box
Summary
The association of occupational stress and burnout with various types of health care professionals and the consequences for patients, employees, and institutions has gained increasing attention over the last two decades. Both stress and burnout are highly relevant topics across all medical fields and throughout all levels of hierarchy in medical institutions [1,2,3]. International studies have shown that among physicians working in intensive care, a relatively high level of work load, an elevated risk of developing burnout and reduced mental health are frequent. The aim was to assess how occupational and private stress factors influenced burnout and Effort-Reward-Imbalance indices over this time-period
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