How do they cope? A national cross-sectional study of coping in hospital doctors in Ireland
Objectives To measure coping strategies and associated psychological distress, burnout and work ability in hospital doctors in Ireland.Design National cross-sectional study of randomised sample of trainee and consultant hospital doctors.Setting Irish publicly funded hospitals and residential institu...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2024-01-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/1/e076218.full |
| _version_ | 1797295698287263744 |
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| author | Blánaid Hayes Lucia Prihodova Gillian Walsh Ailbhe Doherty |
| author_facet | Blánaid Hayes Lucia Prihodova Gillian Walsh Ailbhe Doherty |
| author_sort | Blánaid Hayes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives To measure coping strategies and associated psychological distress, burnout and work ability in hospital doctors in Ireland.Design National cross-sectional study of randomised sample of trainee and consultant hospital doctors.Setting Irish publicly funded hospitals and residential institutions.Participants 1749 doctors returned surveys (55% response rate).Outcome measures Dependent variables were psychological distress (measured using 12-item General Health Questionnaire), burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory) and work ability (single-item measure). Adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies (Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced) were covariates.Results The coping mechanism most frequently reported by this cohort was the adaptive strategy of active planning. Increased mean hours worked (MHW) (OR 1.02; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.03), a low Work Ability Score (OR 3.23; 95% CI 2.47 to 4.23) and maladaptive coping strategies (OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.22 to 1.31) were significantly associated with psychological distress. Adaptive coping was associated with decreased psychological distress (OR 0.98; 95% CI 0.97 to 1.00). Increased MHW (OR 0.98; 95% CI 0.97 to 0.99), insufficient work ability (OR 0.62; 95% CI 0.48 to 0.80) and maladaptive coping (OR 0.87; 95% CI 0.85 to 0.89) were significantly associated with burnout. Increased MHW (OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.98 to 1.00) and maladaptive coping (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.92) were significantly associated with insufficient work ability.Conclusions Adaptive coping is associated with decreased psychological distress but does not mitigate the effect of increased work hours, which are associated with burnout, distress and insufficient work ability, regardless of a doctor’s coping style. The burden of psychological distress on doctors cannot be mitigated meaningfully unless workplace factors are addressed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T21:52:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c5ea19d704ef4705af961962821fb6d9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T21:52:42Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-c5ea19d704ef4705af961962821fb6d92024-02-25T08:30:09ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552024-01-0114110.1136/bmjopen-2023-076218How do they cope? A national cross-sectional study of coping in hospital doctors in IrelandBlánaid Hayes0Lucia Prihodova1Gillian Walsh2Ailbhe Doherty3Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Dublin, IrelandNational Office for Research Ethics Committees, Dublin, IrelandSchool of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, IrelandSpecialist Perinatal Mental Health Service, Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, IrelandObjectives To measure coping strategies and associated psychological distress, burnout and work ability in hospital doctors in Ireland.Design National cross-sectional study of randomised sample of trainee and consultant hospital doctors.Setting Irish publicly funded hospitals and residential institutions.Participants 1749 doctors returned surveys (55% response rate).Outcome measures Dependent variables were psychological distress (measured using 12-item General Health Questionnaire), burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory) and work ability (single-item measure). Adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies (Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced) were covariates.Results The coping mechanism most frequently reported by this cohort was the adaptive strategy of active planning. Increased mean hours worked (MHW) (OR 1.02; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.03), a low Work Ability Score (OR 3.23; 95% CI 2.47 to 4.23) and maladaptive coping strategies (OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.22 to 1.31) were significantly associated with psychological distress. Adaptive coping was associated with decreased psychological distress (OR 0.98; 95% CI 0.97 to 1.00). Increased MHW (OR 0.98; 95% CI 0.97 to 0.99), insufficient work ability (OR 0.62; 95% CI 0.48 to 0.80) and maladaptive coping (OR 0.87; 95% CI 0.85 to 0.89) were significantly associated with burnout. Increased MHW (OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.98 to 1.00) and maladaptive coping (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.92) were significantly associated with insufficient work ability.Conclusions Adaptive coping is associated with decreased psychological distress but does not mitigate the effect of increased work hours, which are associated with burnout, distress and insufficient work ability, regardless of a doctor’s coping style. The burden of psychological distress on doctors cannot be mitigated meaningfully unless workplace factors are addressed.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/1/e076218.full |
| spellingShingle | Blánaid Hayes Lucia Prihodova Gillian Walsh Ailbhe Doherty How do they cope? A national cross-sectional study of coping in hospital doctors in Ireland BMJ Open |
| title | How do they cope? A national cross-sectional study of coping in hospital doctors in Ireland |
| title_full | How do they cope? A national cross-sectional study of coping in hospital doctors in Ireland |
| title_fullStr | How do they cope? A national cross-sectional study of coping in hospital doctors in Ireland |
| title_full_unstemmed | How do they cope? A national cross-sectional study of coping in hospital doctors in Ireland |
| title_short | How do they cope? A national cross-sectional study of coping in hospital doctors in Ireland |
| title_sort | how do they cope a national cross sectional study of coping in hospital doctors in ireland |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/1/e076218.full |
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