Depression, quality of life and coping style among Thai doctors before their first year of residency training

Abstract

ObjectivesDepression and suicide often affect young physicians coping with the demands of residency training. To support effective prevention programmes, we aim to assess depression, quality of life (QoL) and coping style of doctors prior to beginning residency training.MethodsA cross-sectional study of physicians prior to their first year of residency training at the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand, was conducted. Questionnaires including the Thai versions of the Proactive Coping Inventory, Patient Health Questionnaire and the Pictorial Thai Quality of Life (PTQL) scale were emailed to all first-year residents 1 week before the beginning of residency training in 2015. Descriptive statistics, χ2 test, independent-sample t-test and Pearson’s correlation test were analysed.ResultsAmong 277 doctors, 102 (36.8%) responded to the survey. The average age of respondents was 26.8 (range 25–33; SD=1.2) and 69.6% were women. Nearly all (99.0%) had moderate-to-high overall QoL scores. Depression was found in 10 (9.8%) of respondents. Depression severity was negatively correlated with proactive coping and QoL. Proactive coping (r=0.509, p<0.001), reflective coping (r=0.266, p=0.007), strategic planning (r=0.347, p<0.001), preventive coping (r=0.298, p=0.002) and emotional support seeking (r=0.252, p=0.011) were positively correlated with QoL. Furthermore, proactive was correlated with lower depressive symptoms severity (r=−0.303, p=0.002).ConclusionsAlthough nearly all doctors reported moderate-to-high QoL, positive screening for depression was observed in 9.8% of doctors which is much higher than the prevalence in Thais (1.2%). Mental health promotion policies are essential to help residents effectively cope with the stress and demands of training.

Addressing the physician burnout epidemic with resilience curricula in medical education: a systematic review

“…In addition to a substantial workload, medical students and residents are confronted with a wide range of stressors including inflexible work schedules, sleep deprivation, fatigue, time-consuming clerical and administrative responsibilities, insufficient access to allied health personnel and staff (e.g., nurses, social workers), and unwelcoming learning environments [1]. Coupled with societal-and selfexpectations [2], medical students and residents are at high risk for compassion fatigue [3][4][5], low self-esteem [6], decreased mental health [7][8][9][10][11][12][13], and overall poor quality of life [14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. The implications of elevated psychological distress among medical students and residents are welldocumented and include diminished academic accomplishment [21,22], substance abuse [9,[23][24][25], decreased empathy [26,27], increased professional misconduct [28], and suicide [29,30].…”

Three reflections to improve residentsÓ? education: preparing the future of radiology

“…Radiology residents face high academic and workplace pressure, which must be made compatible with family and personal life, achieving a balance that enables them to be successful in both. It must be considered that a significant number of residents (and radiologists) must deal with domestic and parental tasks and permanent study; added to the evolution of radiology technologies, the rapid advancement of medical knowledge and the evaluation of the radiologist based on his personal production (academic and work), has generated a permanent interference between work and personal life, with high rates of exhaustion and burnout, which can lead to early abandonment of residence or prolonged absences due to mental health 8,9 .…”

“…Various studies support the initiative to carry out mentoring of residents, which reduces the rate of stress and fatigue, with greater personal satisfaction and real perception of personal and professional growth, with greater job satisfaction for both the mentor and the resident, improving clinical activity and increasing research, favoring the academic career of both, the permanence of the professors and the retention of outstanding residents [9][10][11] .…”

Mentoring in radiology: An asset worth exploring!

“…Residents experience high pressure to be successful in both their career and in keeping up an optimal work-life balance [25][26][27][28]. With the rise of dual-income and single-parent households and the increase of female physicians over the last decades, most residents nowadays have to combine traditional household duties and taking care of children with their career.…”