Abstract
BackgroundMedical transport (MT) professionals are subject to considerable emotional demands due to their involvement in life-or-death situations and their exposure to the serious health problems of their clients. An increase in the demand for MT services has, in turn, increased interest in the study of the psychosocial risk factors affecting the health of workers in this sector. However, research thus far has not distinguished between emergency (EMT) and non-emergency (non-EMT) services, nor between the sexes. Furthermore, little emphasis has been placed on the protective factors involved. The main objective of the present study is to identify any existing differential exposure – for reasons of work setting (EMT and non-EMT) or of gender – to the various psychosocial risk and protective factors affecting the health of MT workers.MethodsDescriptive and transversal research with responses from 201 professionals.ResultsThe scores obtained on the various psychosocial scales in our study – as indicators of future health problems – were more unfavourable for non-EMT workers than they were for EMT workers. Work setting, but not gender, was able to account for these differences.DiscussionThe scores obtained for the different psychosocial factors are generally more favourable for the professionals we surveyed than those obtained in previous samples.ConclusionThe significant differences observed between EMT and non-EMT personnel raise important questions regarding the organization of work in companies that carry out both services at the same time in the same territory. The relationships among the set of risk/protective factors suggests a need for further investigation into working conditions as well as a consideration of the workers’ sense of coherence and subjective well-being as protective factors against occupational burnout syndrome.
Highlights
Medical transport (MT) professionals are subject to considerable emotional demands due to their involvement in life-or-death situations and their exposure to the serious health problems of their clients
In view of the above, the main objective of this research is to analyze the differential exposure to various psychosocial risk and protective factors among MT workers according to their work setting (EMT, nonEMT and other jobs) and gender
In order to assess the risk of burnout, we calculated the response percentages for each of the three burnout categories corresponding to the EE, DP and personal accomplishment (PA) scales, in accordance with the cut-off points proposed in the Spanish Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) [49]
Summary
Medical transport (MT) professionals are subject to considerable emotional demands due to their involvement in life-or-death situations and their exposure to the serious health problems of their clients. An increase in the demand for MT services has, in turn, increased interest in the study of the psychosocial risk factors affecting the health of workers in this sector. The main objective of the present study is to identify any existing differential exposure – for reasons of work setting (EMT and non-EMT) or of gender – to the various psychosocial risk and protective factors affecting the health of MT workers. The increased demand and the quality of service required for both these types of medical transport has stimulated an interest in research into the working conditions in the sector [3] and has led to more monitoring and increased pressure on MT organizations. The sole focus of most of these studies is on detecting the risk factors for workers’ health, while few have analyzed the preventive role that might be played by variables that protect health or promote well-being
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