Mental Health Well-Being and Attitudes on Mental Health Disorders among Family Physicians during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Connection with Resilience and Healthy Lifestyle

Abstract

Family physicians (FPs) are exposed to high amounts of stress, and could be susceptible to the development of mental health disorders (MHD), especially after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the current study was to assess MHD history, attitudes toward MHDs and stress‑coping strategies in FPs. An additional goal was to estimate their comprehensive well-being and investigate connections with resilience and a healthy lifestyle. A total of 483 FPs submitted their responses via online survey. MHD attitudes were assessed with the according questionnaires, while burnout levels, healthy lifestyle, resilience, job and life satisfaction were estimated with validated scales. Results have shown that 32.5% of FPs disclosed positive MHD history, while 68.7% used professional help. Resilience and healthy lifestyle levels were significantly higher in MHD negative FPs (p < 0.001), while burnout levels were lower (p < 0.001). Moreover, healthy lifestyle (β = 0.03, p < 0.001) was an independent correlate of resilience, while healthy lifestyle (β= −0.35, p < 0.001, and resilience (β= −1.82, p < 0.001) were of burnout levels. Finally, resilience (OR = 0.387, p < 0.001) and healthy lifestyle (OR = 0.970, p = 0.021) were shown as independent predictors of positive MHD history status. Strong promotion and education of FP population regarding resilience and healthy lifestyle should be utilized in practice in order to alleviate the possibility of mental health disturbances and the according consequences.

Prevalence of burnout among health care workers in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

“…According to the research on mental health disorders (MHD) among family physicians in Croatia during the COVID-19 pandemic, respondents with positive MHD history had lower scores on resilience, healthy lifestyle, and satisfaction with life and work, but higher scores on burnout ( 34 ). Nearly 50% of MHD positive physicians developed these disturbances in the COVID-19 pandemic era ( 34 ). These results support the idea of a healthy lifestyle and resilience as key protective factors against work-related burnout ( 34 ).…”

“…Nearly 50% of MHD positive physicians developed these disturbances in the COVID-19 pandemic era ( 34 ). These results support the idea of a healthy lifestyle and resilience as key protective factors against work-related burnout ( 34 ).…”

An Assessment of the Well-Being of Physicians Working in a Family Physician’s Team During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Lithuania

“…Quality of life among health care specialists transformed during the pandemic due to increased workload and fear of the virus spreading [8; 9]. The satisfaction of physicians can be analyzed through an array of aspects: life satisfaction, work satisfaction, and satisfaction in decision-making and management of the pandemic [10]. Work satisfaction among physicians depends on sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, and speciality), work hours, income, lifestyle, professional accomplishments, decision-making autonomy, and good patient-physician contact [11].…”

“…Work satisfaction among physicians is determined by age, workload, income, and professional burnout [13]. The stress experienced by family physicians during the pandemic may induce professional burnout and mental illness [10,14]. The main cause of stress in critical situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, is the scope and variety of information provided by many different sources [15].…”

Evaluación de la psicopatología en mujeres durante la etapa reproductiva y perinatal

“…En este sentido, numerosas investigaciones han aprovechado los métodos online, tanto para detectar psicopatología durante la pandemia de COVID-19 (p. ej. Folayan et al, 2022;Vilovic et al, 2022) como para la aplicación de tratamientos (Chang et al, 2022;Duran et al, 2022) gracias a la facilidad de acceso a los individuos estudiados inherente a la metodología digital.…”