A cross-sectional study of psychological distress, burnout, and the associated risk factors in hospital pharmacists in Japan

Abstract

BackgroundOpportunities for face-to-face communication with patients is increasing in modern hospital pharmacist practice. This may impose new burdens on hospital pharmacists. We performed a cross-sectional study to examine the prevalence of psychological distress, burnout, and compassion fatigue among hospital pharmacists. We also investigated possible relevant factors, such as sex, years of experience, hospital size, interpersonal work hours, and personality traits related to communication.MethodsWe mailed self-administered questionnaires to all pharmacists (n = 823) belonging to the prefectural society of hospital pharmacists in Japan. The questionnaires were the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), Burnout (BO) and Compassion Fatigue and Secondary Traumatic Stress (CF/STS) subscales of the Professional Quality of Life Scale, the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), and the Adult ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) Self-Report Scale (ASRS). We examined associations between personality traits (AQ, ASRS) and psychological burden (GHQ-12, BO, CF/STS) using rank ANCOVA or multivariate logistic regression analyses.ResultsComplete responses were obtained from 380 pharmacists (46.2 % response rate). A substantial number of participants obtained scores that were higher than the cutoff points of the GHQ-12 (54.7 %), BO (49.2 %), and CF/STS (29.2 %). The GHQ-12 scores were negatively affected by years of experience (p < 0.001), and positively affected by AQ (p < 0.001) and ASRS (p < 0.001) scores. The BO scores was positively affected by AQ (p < 0.001) and ASRS (p = 0.001) scores, while the CF/STS (p = 0.023) score was negatively affected by years of experience, and positively affected by AQ (p < 0.001) and ASRS (p < 0.001) scores.ConclusionsThere is a high prevalence of psychological distress and work-related burnout/CF among hospital pharmacists. Additionally, two common personality traits, such as autistic-like traits and ADHD-like symptoms, which might be related to communication style, could increase the risk of psychological distress and burnout/CF. Early risk assessment and preventive interventions that are specialized for these characteristics could protect individuals with these specific traits from burnout.

The Roles of Empathy, Attachment Style, and Burnout in Pharmacy Students’ Academic Satisfaction

“…35 In our study, the characteristics consistently predicting students' burnout were the academic year in the school curriculum and an anxious attachment style. The lower ability to deal with academic stress, therefore, appears to be related to students' interpersonal relational style and with the challenges in the last years of pharmacy school.…”

“…34 Pharmacy students and professionals dealing with patients are submitted, furthermore, to emotional loaded interactions and are more prone to emotional stress and burnout. 35 They may, in consequence, become less able to adopt the patients' perspective and become less empathic, and prefer to protect themselves using depersonalization. [36][37][38] However, some authors have reported that the ability to take patients' perspectives and to act compassionately, enhances professional accomplishment, thereby reducing depersonalization.…”

Factors associated with the burnout syndrome among professionals in pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and marketing 1234

“…In the sample of the pharmacists from Japan, 49.2% of respondents were at high risk for developing the burnout. All that indicates the significance of cultural differences 1 . The PA scale that examines a perceived competence, success and personal accomplishment in work environment showed that 53% of the respondents in our study had high levels of perceived lack of personal accomplishment.…”

“…This finding confirmed that the participants who were assertive and possessed the skills for clear and efficient communication with others were at lower risk of developing the burnout syndrome 18 . The significance of the using the appropriate communication in the pharmaceutical practice and its influence on the quality of the transfer of information and giving advice between the patients and the health care workers has been recognized in numerous studies in that area 1,19 . The comparison of frequency and severity of the burnout syndrome per each subscale (EE, DP and PA) against the line of business of the participants showed statistically significant differences between low, medium and high levels of the burnout.…”

“…In contemporary pharmaceutical practice, which is focused on improving safety, therapy outcomes and patients` quality of life, pharmacists can face the burnout syndrome and an increased work-related stress 1 . The burnout syndrome in the pharmaceutical profession can have rather harmful consequences, accompanied by a reduction in quality of care, work absentism, lack of commitment to Factors associated with the burnout syndrome among professionals in pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and marketing 15 organizing, poor drug sales and job dissatisfaction 2 .…”