Comparison of Psychological Well-Being of Surgical and Non-Surgical Specialty Physicians Working in a Hospital using the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28)
Abstract
Purpose: Psychological well-being of a physician affects the physician’s mental and physical health, even the patient-physician relationship. This article aims to evaluate and compare the psychological well-being of surgeons and internists in a hospital and to investigate the relationship with relevant variables.
Method: Full-time physicians working in a private hospital in Istanbul between 15-30 April 2019 participated in this study. With General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), the frequency of Probable Psychiatric Cases (PPCs) was determined. The GHQ-28 results were compared with the physician’s specialty, demographic information, and answers to the job satisfaction questions that we prepared. Moreover, the relationship between these answers and the physician’s specialty was evaluated.
Results: 84 (37.3%) of 225 physicians (Confidence Level= 95%, Margin of Error= 8%) participated in the study. 19 (22.6%) physicians were found a PPC with a GHQ-28 score of ≥5. Of these 19 people, 11 were surgeons and 8 were internists. The frequency of PPCs was found as 25.6% in surgeons and 19.5% in internists (p>0.05). While 90.8% of non-PPCs were satisfied with their working environment, this rate was 68.4% in PPCs (p=0.038). There was no significant difference in the answers to job satisfaction questions between the surgeons and internists (p>0.05).
Conclusion: There was no relationship between the physician’s specialty and being a PPC. A relationship was found between not being a PPC and being satisfied with the physician’s working environment and it should be considered in the evaluation of the mental health of the physicians.
Keywords
Physician Specialty Psychological Well-Being General Health Questionnaire-28 Probable Psychiatric Case Job Satisfaction
Thanks
We would like to thank Yılmaz Onat Köylüoğlu for making the necessary edits in the language of the article.
References
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Abstract
References
- 1. Williams ES, Skinner AC. Outcomes of physician job satisfaction: a narrative review, implications, and directions for future research. Health Care Manage Rev, 2003; 28:119–40.
- 2. Upton D, Mason V, Doran B, Solowiej K, Shiralkar U, Shiralkar S. The experience of burnout across different surgical specialties in the United Kingdom: a cross-sectional survey. Surgery, 2012; 151(4):493e501.
- 3. Yates SW. Physician Stress and Burnout. The American journal of medicine, 2020; 133(2), 160–164.
- 4. Rotenstein LS, Torre M, Ramos MA, Rosales RC, Guille C, Sen S, & Mata DA. Prevalence of Burnout Among Physicians: A Systematic Review. JAMA, 2018; 320(11), 1131–1150.
- 5. Wallace JE, Lemaire JB, Ghali WA. Physician wellness: a missing quality indicator. Lancet, 2009; 374: 1714–21.
- 6. Medscape 2015 Physician Lifestyle Report. www.medscape.com/sites/public/lifestyle/2015 (17 December 2020, date last accessed).
- 7. Sterling M. General Health Questionnaire – 28 (GHQ-28). Journal Of Physiotherapy. 2011; 57(4): 259.
- 8. Kadioglu H, Ergun A, & Yildiz A. Screening of mental health problems with GHQ-28 in a sample of Turkish community dwelling adult people. Journal Of Marmara University Institute Of Health Sciences, 2013; 1.
- 9. Kilic C, Rezaki M, Rezaki B, Kaplan I, Ozgen G, Sağduyu A, Oztürk MO. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12 & GHQ28): psychometric properties and factor structure of the scales in a Turkish primary care sample. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 1997 Aug; 32(6):327-31. Doi: 10.1007/BF00805437. PMID: 9299926.
- 10. Goldberg D, Williams P. A users guide to the General Health Questionnaire. NFER e Nelson Publishing; 1988.
- 11. Bizri M, Kassir G, Tamim H, Kobeissy F, Hayek SE. Psychological distress experienced by physicians and nurses at a tertiary care center in Lebanon during the COVID-19 Outbreak. Journal of Health Psychology, 2021; Feb. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105321991630
- 12. Momeni M, Fahim F, Vahidi E, Nejati A, Saeedi M. Evaluation of factors affecting psychological morbidity in emergency medicine practitioners. World Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2016; 7(3), 203. https://doi.org/10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2016.03.007
- 13. Assadi SM, Nakhaei MR, Najafi F, Fazel S. Mental health in three generations of Iranian medical students and doctors. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2006; 42(1), 57–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-006-0130-7
- 14. Tzeng, DS, Chung WC, Fan PL, Lung FW, Yang CY. Psychological morbidity, quality of life and their correlations among military health care workers in Taiwan. Industrial Health, 2009; 47(6), 626–634. https://doi.org/10.2486/indhealth.47.626
- 15. Gong Y, Han T, Chen W, et al. Prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and related risk factors among physicians in China: a cross-sectional study. PLoS One. 2014; 9(7): e103242.
- 16. Algül R, Yılmaz D, Özer Ü, Kaya B. Variables affecting burnout levels among medical doctors working in internal and surgical branches and the relationship of burnout with work engagement and Organizational Commitment. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2016; 19(4), 176–184. https://doi.org/10.5505/kpd.2016.92485
- 17. Shanafelt TD, Balch CM, Bechamps GJ, Russell T, Dyrbye L, Satele D, et al. Burnout and career satisfaction among American Surgeons. Ann Surg 2009; 250(3), 463-71.
- 18. Vijendren A, Yung M, Shiralkar U. Are Ent surgeons in the UK at risk of stress, Psychological Morbidities and burnout? A national questionnaire survey. The Surgeon, 2018; 16(1), 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surge.2016.01.002
- 19. Stone AA, Schneider S, Broderick JE. Psychological stress declines rapidly from age 50 in the United States: Yet another well-being paradox. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2017; 103, 22–28. Doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2017.09.016
- 20. Shanafelt TD, Sloan JA, Habermann TM. The well-being of physicians. Am J Med. 2003; 114: 513-519.
- 21. Ozyurt A, Hayran O, Sur H. Predictors of burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish physicians. QJM. 2006; 99, 161-169.
- 22. Pappa S, Ntella V, Giannakas T, et al. Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and insomnia among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Brain, 2020; Behavior, and Immunity 88: 901–907
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Public Health, Environmental Health |
| Journal Section | Research Article |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | March 17, 2023 |
| Submission Date | February 22, 2022 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2023Volume: 14 Issue: 2 |
