PROFESSIONAL QULAITY OF LIFE AND BURN OUT AMONG PSYSIOTHERAPISTS IN LATAVIA

Abstract

Background: In their daily practice, physiotherapists need to physically and emotionally interact with their patients; therefore, like any other helping professionals, are subject to emotional risks. The aim of this study is to explain the symptoms of compassion fatigue (CF) and professional burnout (BO) in Latvian physiotherapists and offer suggestions for the staff management.
 Methods: To achieve the goal of the study, quantitative, non-experimental research was conducted using: the Professional Quality of Life Scale and the Maslach’s Burnout Scale. The present study measures the level of compassion satisfaction (CS), secondary traumatic stress (STS), and Burn Out (BO) syndrome. In addition, the BO was measured along with its three dimensions: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP), and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment (PA). Convenience sampling was used in the study. The survey was conducted among 155 physiotherapists with an average age of 35.5 years and an average length of service of 9.5 years.
 Results: The results of the study show that physiotherapists have moderate Compassion Fatigue (M=36,37±7,23), low Secondary Traumatic Stress (M=27,54±4,65), and moderate Burn Out (M=17,68±6,89) (only EE dimension had a high value (M=24,52±12,84), but moderate Depersonalisation P (M=7,3±6,06) and low Personal Accomplishment (M=38,92±6,49). Statistically significant correlations are found between all these phenomena. Furthermore, statistically significant differences in these phenomena among physiotherapists with different length of service are also confirmed.
 Conclusions: The study demonstrates the association between CF, STS, and BO symptoms and their variability over a physiotherapist’s length of service. Under the influence of these emotional risks, 60% of respondents reported a lack of compassion satisfaction to continue working as a physiotherapist.