Psychiatric Morbidity and Burnout in the Medical Profession: An Italian Study of General Practitioners and Hospital Physicians

Abstract

Background: Burnout and psychological stress symptoms represent a major problem among health care professionals. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of and the relationship between psychiatric morbidity and burnout among a convenience sample of Italian primary care physicians (GPs) and hospital physicians (HPs). Method: The sample consisted of 328 physicians (182 GPs and 146 HPs) who completed the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Results: The global prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was 22.3% (20.3% among GPs and 24.6% among HPs). Symptoms of emotional exhaustion were reported by 27.5% of the participants (GPs: 32.4%; HPs: 21.2%), depersonalization by 25.6% (GPs: 27.4%; HPs: 22.6%) and low personal accomplishment by 12.8% (GPs: 13.1%; HPs: 12.3%). No significant difference was found between the two groups, except higher levels of emotional exhaustion among GPs. Female GPs reported lower scores on MBI depersonalization and female HPs lower scores MBI personal accoplishment than male GPs and HPs, respectively. Conclusions: The study underscores the significant problem of stress among physicians and indicates the need for supporting health professionals in order to improve their psychological well-being and, possibly, the quality of their relationship with the patients.

Haemato-oncology and burnout: an Italian survey

“…Low PA instead was less representative. Prevalence of estimated psychiatric morbidity was not significantly higher in physicians (36.4%) than in nurses (28.8%), but both were higher than the general Italian population (22.3%; Politi et al, 1994) or the general and hospital physicians (20.3 and 24.3%; Grassi and Magnani, 2000). The previously mentioned study on hospital nurses (Tabolli et al, 2006) found 34% of estimated psychiatric cases.…”

“…Comparison with a representative Italian sample (Grassi and Magnani, 2000) of 328 hospital physicians and general practitioners revealed small differences: high EE was 27%, high DP was 25% and low PA was 13%. In a recent study of 242 Italian hospital nurses (Tabolli et al, 2006), the mean values of the three MBI subscales were similar to those found in this survey (EE ¼ 18.4, DP ¼ 3.9 and PA ¼ 38.1).…”

“…Burnout has been studied in different areas of Medicine such as Oncology, Intensive and Palliative Care Units, and Psychiatric Services, suggesting a higher prevalence among general and hospital practitioners who face chronic or life-threatening diseases (Olkinuora et al, 1990;Catalan et al, 1996;Ramirez et al, 1998;Thomsen et al, 1999;Grassi and Magnani, 2000;Graham and Ramirez, 2002;Fothergill et al, 2004;Embriaco et al, 2007).…”

Female physicians’ health in Hungary. A longitudinal perspective

“…A szomatikus egészség vizsgálatakor ugyanis a nemzetközi szakirodalom hangsúlyozza, hogy az orvosok hivatásukból adódóan jobban ismerik a megelőzés és az egészségmegőrzés módszereit, az esetleges problémák korai felismerését, kezelési lehetőségeit. Ugyanakkor az orvosi hivatás emocionálisan és fi zikálisan megterhelő jellege mintegy "predesztinálhat" az egészségi problémák nagyobb arányú megjelenésére [29,30,31].…”

Relationships between work satisfaction, emotional exhaustion and mental health among Swiss primary care physicians

“…[9][10][11][12][13] Burnout has been characterized among health professionals by high levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and decreased levels of personal accomplishment. Burnout is closely related with dissatisfaction at work, [6][7][8] bad quality of care, 12,[14][15][16] or intention to withdraw from practice.…”