Anxiety, depression, health attitudes and coping strategies in doctors and teachers in a Cape Town setting

The prevalence of burnout and depression in medical doctors working in the Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality community healthcare clinics and district hospitals of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape: a cross-sectional study

“…17 Furthermore, our results suggest higher rates of emotional distress in medical doctors in these primary care settings, compared to doctors in a tertiary care setting (Tygerberg Hospital). 18 According to Maslach et al, 6 the state that is opposite to burnout is engagement, which is characterised by low emotional exhaustion, low depersonalisation and high personal accomplishment. 6 In this study, only 5% of doctors experienced engagement with their work.…”

“…6,12,[23][24][25][26][27][28] Burnout has also been associated with absent days from work, the inability to stay at one workplace, decreased job satisfaction and importantly, suboptimal patient care. 5,6,9,18,25,27 Working in the district and community health services is a challenging task, and these settings provide a possible breeding ground for burnout and depression in medical doctors. 23 This study aimed to define the magnitude of the problem in order to motivate the development of an action plan that is within the reach of doctors who work in these settings.…”

“…[8][9][10][11][12] Locally conducted studies have been small in size, and have used a wide variety of measuring instruments, limiting the extrapolation of findings and comparisons across studies. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] A national survey on randomly selected South African medical practitioners (n = 402 doctors) conducted in 2003, documented high levels of burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation). 17 A cross-sectional study performed on anxiety or depression in doctors working in Tygerberg Hospital found that 2% of doctors reported severe symptoms of depression and anxiety, 21% had moderate symptoms and 47% were symptom free.…”

“…17 A cross-sectional study performed on anxiety or depression in doctors working in Tygerberg Hospital found that 2% of doctors reported severe symptoms of depression and anxiety, 21% had moderate symptoms and 47% were symptom free. 18 According to Center et al, 21 depression, with a lifetime prevalence of 12.8%, seems to be as common in physicians as that in the general population. In South Africa, the life time prevalence of mood disorders in the general population between 2002 and 2004 was reported to be 9.8%.…”

Burnout, anxiety and depression risk in medical doctors working in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa: Evidence from a multi-site study of resource-constrained government hospitals in a generalised HIV epidemic setting

“…Outside of SA, no studies were found exploring anxiety in medical doctors in Africa. A 2007 study conducted in MDs working in the WC, SA, reported that the combined prevalence of anxiety and depression was 53% [ 22 ]. Symptoms of anxiety and depression are commonly co-morbid [ 23 – 25 ], and have been linked to adverse outcomes in social, occupational and physical realms of functioning [ 26 – 28 ].…”