Chronic stress and coping among cardiac surgeons: a single center study

INTRODUCTION: Cardiac surgeons stress may impair their quality of life and professional practice. OBJECTIVE: To assess perceived chronic stress and coping strategies among cardiac surgeons. METHODS: Twenty-two cardiac surgeons answered two self-assessment questionnaires, the Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress and the German SGV for coping strategies. RESULTS: Participants mean age was 40±14.1 years and 13 were male; eight were senior physicians and 14 were residents. Mean values for the Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress were within the normal range. Unexperienced physicians had significantly higher levels of dissatisfaction at work, lack of social recognition, and isolation (P<0.05). Coping strategies such as play down, distraction from situation, and substitutional satisfaction were also significantly more frequent among unexperienced surgeons. "Negative" stress-coping strategies occur more often in experienced than in younger colleagues (P=0.029). Female surgeons felt more exposed to overwork (P=0.04) and social stress (P=0.03). CONCLUSION: Cardiac surgeons show a tendency to high perception of chronic stress phenomena and vulnerability for negative coping strategies.