Professional quality of life and burnout among medical physicists working in radiation oncology: The role of alexithymia and empathy
Background and purpose: The professional quality of life of radiation oncology professionals can be influenced by different contributing factors, including personality traits. Alexithymia involves deficits in emotion processing and awareness. Empathy is the ability to understand another’s ‘state of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Physics and Imaging in Radiation Oncology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240563162030035X |
| _version_ | 1828465838375567360 |
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| author | Marialaura Di Tella Valentina Tesio Jenny Bertholet Anne Gasnier Elisabet Gonzalez del Portillo Mateusz Spalek Jean-Emmanuel Bibault Gerben Borst Wouter Van Elmpt Daniela Thorwarth Laura Mullaney Kathrine Røe Redalen Ludwig Dubois Cyrus Chargari Sophie Perryck Steven Petit Myriam Lybeer Lorys Castelli Pierfrancesco Franco |
| author_facet | Marialaura Di Tella Valentina Tesio Jenny Bertholet Anne Gasnier Elisabet Gonzalez del Portillo Mateusz Spalek Jean-Emmanuel Bibault Gerben Borst Wouter Van Elmpt Daniela Thorwarth Laura Mullaney Kathrine Røe Redalen Ludwig Dubois Cyrus Chargari Sophie Perryck Steven Petit Myriam Lybeer Lorys Castelli Pierfrancesco Franco |
| author_sort | Marialaura Di Tella |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background and purpose: The professional quality of life of radiation oncology professionals can be influenced by different contributing factors, including personality traits. Alexithymia involves deficits in emotion processing and awareness. Empathy is the ability to understand another’s ‘state of mind/emotion’. We investigated professional quality of life, including burnout, in radiation oncology, exploring the role of alexithymia and empathy and targeting the population of medical physicists (MPs), since this professional category is usually underrepresented in surveys exploring professional well-being in radiation oncology and MPs may experience professional distress given the increasing complexity of multimodal cancer care. Material and methods: An online survey was addressed to ESTRO members. Participants filled out three questionnaires to evaluate alexithymia, empathy and professional quality of life: a) Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20); b) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI); c) Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQoL). Professional quality of life as per ProQoL was considered as dependent variable. The three domains of the ProQoL, namely compassion satisfaction (CS), secondary traumatic stress (STS) and burnout were correlated with alexithymia (as per TAS-20) and empathy (as per IRI with three subcategories: empathic concern, perspective taking and personal distress) and demographic/professional characteristics as independent variables. Generalized linear modeling was used. Significant covariates on univariate linear regression analysis were included in the multivariate linear regression model. Results: A total of 308 medical physicists completed all questionnaires. Alexithymia as per TAS-20 was correlated to decreased CS (β = −0.25, p < 0 0.001), increased likelihood for STS (β = 0.26, p < 0 0.001) and burnout (β = 0.47, p < 0 0.001). With respect to empathy, the ‘Empatic Concern’ subscale of the IRI was found to be a significant predictor for increased CS (β = 0.19, p = 0 0.001) and increased STS (β = 0.19, p < 0 0.001), without significant correlation with burnout. The individual’s perception of being valued by own’s supervisor was correlated to increased CS (β = 0.23, p < 0.001), and decreased burnout (β = −0.29, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Alexithymic personality trait increased the likelihood to develop burnout, with less professional satisfaction amongst MPs working in radiation oncology. Empathy results in higher professional fulfilment. These results may be used to benchmark preventing strategies, including peer support, debriefing sessions, leadership initiatives and work-load limitation strategies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T03:39:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-daf94a0567f44705a12e080d2fd4286d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-6316 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T03:39:50Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physics and Imaging in Radiation Oncology |
| spelling | doaj.art-daf94a0567f44705a12e080d2fd4286d2022-12-22T01:22:10ZengElsevierPhysics and Imaging in Radiation Oncology2405-63162020-07-01153843Professional quality of life and burnout among medical physicists working in radiation oncology: The role of alexithymia and empathyMarialaura Di Tella0Valentina Tesio1Jenny Bertholet2Anne Gasnier3Elisabet Gonzalez del Portillo4Mateusz Spalek5Jean-Emmanuel Bibault6Gerben Borst7Wouter Van Elmpt8Daniela Thorwarth9Laura Mullaney10Kathrine Røe Redalen11Ludwig Dubois12Cyrus Chargari13Sophie Perryck14Steven Petit15Myriam Lybeer16Lorys Castelli17Pierfrancesco Franco18Department of Psychology, “ReMind the Body” Research Group, University of Turin, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, “ReMind the Body” Research Group, University of Turin, ItalyEuropean Society for Radiotherapy&Oncology (ESTRO) Young Committee, Brussels, Belgium; Joint Department of Physics, The Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom; Division of Medical Radiation Physics, Department of Radiation Oncology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, SwitzerlandRadiotherapy Department, Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus, Villejuif, FranceDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital of Salamanca, Salamanca, SpainEuropean Society for Radiotherapy&Oncology (ESTRO) Young Committee, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Soft Tissue/Bone Sarcoma and Melanoma, Maria Sklodowska-Curie Institute - Oncology Center, Warsaw, PolandEuropean Society for Radiotherapy&Oncology (ESTRO) Young Committee, Brussels, Belgium; Radiation Oncology Department, Hopital Europeen Georges Pompidou, Universite Paris Descartes, Paris, FranceDepartment of Oncology, Radiation Oncology Department, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsThe M-Lab, Department of Precision Medicine, GROW – School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The NetherlandsSection for Biomedical Physics, University Hospital for Radiation Oncology Tubingen, Tuebingen, GermanyEuropean Society for Radiotherapy&Oncology (ESTRO) Young Committee, Brussels, Belgium; Applied Radiation Therapy Trinity Research Group, Discipline of Radiation Therapy, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, IrelandEuropean Society for Radiotherapy&Oncology (ESTRO) Young Committee, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, NorwayEuropean Society for Radiotherapy&Oncology (ESTRO) Young Committee, Brussels, Belgium; The M-Lab, Department of Precision Medicine, GROW – School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The NetherlandsEuropean Society for Radiotherapy&Oncology (ESTRO) Young Committee, Brussels, Belgium; Radiotherapy Department, Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus, Villejuif, FranceEuropean Society for Radiotherapy&Oncology (ESTRO) Young Committee, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandEuropean Society for Radiotherapy&Oncology (ESTRO) Young Committee, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Radiation Oncology, Erasmus Cancer Institute, Rotterdam The NetherlandsESTRO Office, Brussels, BelgiumDepartment of Psychology, “ReMind the Body” Research Group, University of Turin, ItalyEuropean Society for Radiotherapy&Oncology (ESTRO) Young Committee, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Oncology, Radiation Oncology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy; Corresponding author at: Department of Oncology – Radiation Oncology, University of Turin School of Medicine, Via Genova 3, 10126 Turin, Italy.Background and purpose: The professional quality of life of radiation oncology professionals can be influenced by different contributing factors, including personality traits. Alexithymia involves deficits in emotion processing and awareness. Empathy is the ability to understand another’s ‘state of mind/emotion’. We investigated professional quality of life, including burnout, in radiation oncology, exploring the role of alexithymia and empathy and targeting the population of medical physicists (MPs), since this professional category is usually underrepresented in surveys exploring professional well-being in radiation oncology and MPs may experience professional distress given the increasing complexity of multimodal cancer care. Material and methods: An online survey was addressed to ESTRO members. Participants filled out three questionnaires to evaluate alexithymia, empathy and professional quality of life: a) Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20); b) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI); c) Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQoL). Professional quality of life as per ProQoL was considered as dependent variable. The three domains of the ProQoL, namely compassion satisfaction (CS), secondary traumatic stress (STS) and burnout were correlated with alexithymia (as per TAS-20) and empathy (as per IRI with three subcategories: empathic concern, perspective taking and personal distress) and demographic/professional characteristics as independent variables. Generalized linear modeling was used. Significant covariates on univariate linear regression analysis were included in the multivariate linear regression model. Results: A total of 308 medical physicists completed all questionnaires. Alexithymia as per TAS-20 was correlated to decreased CS (β = −0.25, p < 0 0.001), increased likelihood for STS (β = 0.26, p < 0 0.001) and burnout (β = 0.47, p < 0 0.001). With respect to empathy, the ‘Empatic Concern’ subscale of the IRI was found to be a significant predictor for increased CS (β = 0.19, p = 0 0.001) and increased STS (β = 0.19, p < 0 0.001), without significant correlation with burnout. The individual’s perception of being valued by own’s supervisor was correlated to increased CS (β = 0.23, p < 0.001), and decreased burnout (β = −0.29, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Alexithymic personality trait increased the likelihood to develop burnout, with less professional satisfaction amongst MPs working in radiation oncology. Empathy results in higher professional fulfilment. These results may be used to benchmark preventing strategies, including peer support, debriefing sessions, leadership initiatives and work-load limitation strategies.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240563162030035XBurnoutProfessional quality of lifeEmpathyPersonalityRadiation oncology professionalsMedical physicist |
| spellingShingle | Marialaura Di Tella Valentina Tesio Jenny Bertholet Anne Gasnier Elisabet Gonzalez del Portillo Mateusz Spalek Jean-Emmanuel Bibault Gerben Borst Wouter Van Elmpt Daniela Thorwarth Laura Mullaney Kathrine Røe Redalen Ludwig Dubois Cyrus Chargari Sophie Perryck Steven Petit Myriam Lybeer Lorys Castelli Pierfrancesco Franco Professional quality of life and burnout among medical physicists working in radiation oncology: The role of alexithymia and empathy Physics and Imaging in Radiation Oncology Burnout Professional quality of life Empathy Personality Radiation oncology professionals Medical physicist |
| title | Professional quality of life and burnout among medical physicists working in radiation oncology: The role of alexithymia and empathy |
| title_full | Professional quality of life and burnout among medical physicists working in radiation oncology: The role of alexithymia and empathy |
| title_fullStr | Professional quality of life and burnout among medical physicists working in radiation oncology: The role of alexithymia and empathy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Professional quality of life and burnout among medical physicists working in radiation oncology: The role of alexithymia and empathy |
| title_short | Professional quality of life and burnout among medical physicists working in radiation oncology: The role of alexithymia and empathy |
| title_sort | professional quality of life and burnout among medical physicists working in radiation oncology the role of alexithymia and empathy |
| topic | Burnout Professional quality of life Empathy Personality Radiation oncology professionals Medical physicist |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240563162030035X |
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