Work-related stress in medical personnel: A new instrument for screening and evidence-based recommendations for therapeutic management

Abstract

Medical personnel is constantly exposed to a variety of stressful events, starting from work overloading, to threats to one’s own health or personal integrity, disruptions in personal relationships due to high stress in the professional environment, continuous need to keep in touch with the advances of medical science and therapeutic guidelines etc. Structured evaluation of work-related stress disorders (WRSD) is important both for screening purposes in a vulnerable population like the medical personnel, and for the monitoring of the overall status evolution during individual or organizational interventions. Beside burnout syndrome, major depressive episodes, anxiety disorders, acute stress reactions, posttraumatic stress reactions, substance use disorders, adjustment disorders are also included in the category of WRSD. A specific instrument has been designed for the purpose of screening for WRSD in this specific population, i.e. the Work-related Stress Inventory for Medical Personnel, structured as a 20 items, self-administered instrument (WRSIMP-20). This inventory evaluates three main dimensions- (1) mood symptoms and somatic equivalents, (2) work and professional environment-related discomfort, and (3) interpersonal relationship-associated distress. The results of online administration of WRSIMP-20 in 81 health care workers and 52 individuals not related in any way to health care professions (control group) were consistent with the premises, as this inventory has been proven valid for the targeted population. Larger trials and test-retest evaluation are needed in order to complete the psychometric properties of WRSIMP-20, but this instrument seems promising in the detection of individuals vulnerable to WRSD