Multiple Physical Symptoms Are Useful to Identify High Risk Individuals for Burnout: A Study on Faculties and Hospital Workers in Japan.

Yuki Chatani,Hiroko Okinaga,Haruko Hiraike,Kyoko Nomura,Akiko Tsuchiya

doi:10.3390/ijerph18063246

Abstract

Healthcare workers have a high risk of burnout. This study aimed to investigate if the numbers of physical symptoms are associated with burnout among healthcare workers. We conducted a cross-sectional survey at a large university in Tokyo, Japan, in 2016. Participants were 1080: 525 faculties and 555 hospital workers. We investigated 16 physical symptoms perceived more than once per week and examined the association between the number of physical symptoms and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI); work-related (WBO), personal (PBO), and client-related (CBO) burnout. All CBI scores were higher among hospital workers than among faculties: WBO (43 vs. 29), PBO (50 vs. 33), CBO (33 vs. 29). Moreover, the higher the number of physical symptoms perceived, the higher the degree of burnout scores became (trend p-values < 0.001), except for CBO among faculties. Job strain (all except for CBO among hospital workers) and work–family conflict were associated with an increased risk of burnout. Being married (WBO and CBO among faculties), having a child (except for PBO and CBO among faculties), and job support (faculty and hospital workers with WBO and faculties with PBO) were associated with a decreased risk of burnout. Multiple physical symptoms might be useful for identifying high risk individuals for burnout.

Highlights

During their daily clinical work, healthcare professionals sometimes encounter patients who report physical complaints—such as fatigue, backache, headache, and stomachache—with no apparent cause
Among previous studies that investigated the association between physical symptoms and mental health, one study on Latino and Asian Americans found that people with more physical symptoms with no apparent cause often seek mental health service [3]
Among healthy white-collar workers, the number of self-reported physical symptoms is significantly associated with job stress [14], as measured by the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) [15]

Summary

Introduction

They claim various kinds of physical symptoms but healthcare professionals often cannot find any underlying diseases. In such cases, we had the hypothesis that it can be due to mental health malfunction. There are a few studies to support our theory and one previous study suggested that patients with multiple unspecified physical complaints often have mental health problems [1,2]. Among previous studies that investigated the association between physical symptoms and mental health, one study on Latino and Asian Americans found that people with more physical symptoms with no apparent cause often seek mental health service [3].

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