The Relationship Between Depression, Anxiety, and Burnout Among Physician Assistant Students: A Multi-Institutional Study
Purpose: Burnout, depression and anxiety are common in medical students; however, there is limited research on these outcomes in Physician Assistant (PA) students. With a growing number of PA education programs, examining this issue in PA students can provide important information that can ultimatel...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Health Professions Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452301120300390 |
| _version_ | 1797968431702605824 |
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| author | Aimee K. Johnson Sarah R. Blackstone Ashley Skelly Whitney Simmons |
| author_facet | Aimee K. Johnson Sarah R. Blackstone Ashley Skelly Whitney Simmons |
| author_sort | Aimee K. Johnson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Purpose: Burnout, depression and anxiety are common in medical students; however, there is limited research on these outcomes in Physician Assistant (PA) students. With a growing number of PA education programs, examining this issue in PA students can provide important information that can ultimately affect the quality of educational outcomes and future health care delivery. Methods: All Virginia PA programs (n = 8) in 2018 participated in a cross-sectional study. Students received a recruitment email providing a link to an anonymous survey. Participants completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-SS) student version, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) and provided demographic information. We used two hierarchical linear regression models to assess the ability of depression and anxiety to predict emotional exhaustion and cynicism, respectively, while controlling for sociodemographic variables. The first regression model utilized emotional exhaustion as the dependent variable while the second examines cynicism. Results: The sample consisted of 320 PA students (response rate = 32%). Twenty-three percent were at risk for depression; 43% met criteria for moderate to severe anxiety. Both anxiety (β = 0.53; p < .001), and depression (β = .91; p < .001), significantly predicted emotional exhaustion. There was a significant association between depression cynicism (β = 2.1.; p < .001). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first examining the relationship between depression, anxiety and burnout in PA students. Our findings are similar to those from studies among medical students indicating these issues need to be addressed in PA students. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:46:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a6dd02dfa0194117ae2e86716d01a6e2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2452-3011 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T02:46:48Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Health Professions Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-a6dd02dfa0194117ae2e86716d01a6e22023-01-02T17:47:00ZengKing Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health SciencesHealth Professions Education2452-30112020-09-0163420427The Relationship Between Depression, Anxiety, and Burnout Among Physician Assistant Students: A Multi-Institutional StudyAimee K. Johnson0Sarah R. Blackstone1Ashley Skelly2Whitney Simmons3Department of Health Sciences, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA; Corresponding author. Department of Health Sciences, James Madison University, 235 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, MSC 4301, Harrisonburg, VA 22807. . Fax: +(540) 568 3336.Department of Health Sciences, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USADepartment of Health Professions, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USADepartment of Health Professions, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USAPurpose: Burnout, depression and anxiety are common in medical students; however, there is limited research on these outcomes in Physician Assistant (PA) students. With a growing number of PA education programs, examining this issue in PA students can provide important information that can ultimately affect the quality of educational outcomes and future health care delivery. Methods: All Virginia PA programs (n = 8) in 2018 participated in a cross-sectional study. Students received a recruitment email providing a link to an anonymous survey. Participants completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-SS) student version, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) and provided demographic information. We used two hierarchical linear regression models to assess the ability of depression and anxiety to predict emotional exhaustion and cynicism, respectively, while controlling for sociodemographic variables. The first regression model utilized emotional exhaustion as the dependent variable while the second examines cynicism. Results: The sample consisted of 320 PA students (response rate = 32%). Twenty-three percent were at risk for depression; 43% met criteria for moderate to severe anxiety. Both anxiety (β = 0.53; p < .001), and depression (β = .91; p < .001), significantly predicted emotional exhaustion. There was a significant association between depression cynicism (β = 2.1.; p < .001). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first examining the relationship between depression, anxiety and burnout in PA students. Our findings are similar to those from studies among medical students indicating these issues need to be addressed in PA students.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452301120300390AnxietyBurnoutDepressionPhysician assistant |
| spellingShingle | Aimee K. Johnson Sarah R. Blackstone Ashley Skelly Whitney Simmons The Relationship Between Depression, Anxiety, and Burnout Among Physician Assistant Students: A Multi-Institutional Study Health Professions Education Anxiety Burnout Depression Physician assistant |
| title | The Relationship Between Depression, Anxiety, and Burnout Among Physician Assistant Students: A Multi-Institutional Study |
| title_full | The Relationship Between Depression, Anxiety, and Burnout Among Physician Assistant Students: A Multi-Institutional Study |
| title_fullStr | The Relationship Between Depression, Anxiety, and Burnout Among Physician Assistant Students: A Multi-Institutional Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Relationship Between Depression, Anxiety, and Burnout Among Physician Assistant Students: A Multi-Institutional Study |
| title_short | The Relationship Between Depression, Anxiety, and Burnout Among Physician Assistant Students: A Multi-Institutional Study |
| title_sort | relationship between depression anxiety and burnout among physician assistant students a multi institutional study |
| topic | Anxiety Burnout Depression Physician assistant |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452301120300390 |
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