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Emotionally exhausting factors in general practitioners’ work

Background. Emotional exhaustion is central in burnout syndrome and signals its development. General practitioners’ (GP) work is emotionally challenging but research on these aspects is lacking. Objective. To study the prevalence of emotional exhaustion among GPs and to evaluate how their characteri...

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Autores principales: Torppa, M.A., Kuikka, L., Nevalainen, M., Pitkälä, K.H.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Informa Healthcare 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4750721/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26311207
http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/02813432.2015.1067514
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author Torppa, M.A.
Kuikka, L.
Nevalainen, M.
Pitkälä, K.H.
author_facet Torppa, M.A.
Kuikka, L.
Nevalainen, M.
Pitkälä, K.H.
author_sort Torppa, M.A.
collection PubMed
description Background. Emotional exhaustion is central in burnout syndrome and signals its development. General practitioners’ (GP) work is emotionally challenging but research on these aspects is lacking. Objective. To study the prevalence of emotional exhaustion among GPs and to evaluate how their characteristics and work experiences are associated with emotional exhaustion. Design and methods. A questionnaire survey was carried out among GPs in Finland in 2011 in which questions were posed regarding their experience of emotional exhaustion and items related to their work experiences and professional identity. A statement “I feel burnt out from my job” (never, seldom, sometimes, quite often, or often) enquired about emotional exhaustion. Those responding quite often or often were categorized as emotionally exhausted. Results. Among the GPs, 68% responded (165/244). Of the respondents, 18% were emotionally exhausted. Emotional exhaustion was associated with older age, longer working history, experiences of having too much work, fear and reports of having committed a medical error, low tolerance of uncertainty in their work, and feeling alone at work. No differences in positive work experiences were found. In logistic regression analysis working experience > 5 years (OR 4.1, 95% CI 1.6–10.8; p = 0.0036) and feeling alone at work (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.2–7.1; p = 0.020) predicted emotional exhaustion, having committed a medical error in the past three months predicted it marginally significantly (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.0–5.9, p = 0.057), whereas tolerating uncertainty well protected against it (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.09–0.7; p = 0.0098). Conclusions. Emotional exhaustion among GPs was common and associated with longer working history, having committed a medical error, and feelings of isolation at work. GPs should receive more support throughout their careers.
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spelling pubmed-47507212016-03-02 Emotionally exhausting factors in general practitioners’ work Torppa, M.A. Kuikka, L. Nevalainen, M. Pitkälä, K.H. Scand J Prim Health Care Original Articles Background. Emotional exhaustion is central in burnout syndrome and signals its development. General practitioners’ (GP) work is emotionally challenging but research on these aspects is lacking. Objective. To study the prevalence of emotional exhaustion among GPs and to evaluate how their characteristics and work experiences are associated with emotional exhaustion. Design and methods. A questionnaire survey was carried out among GPs in Finland in 2011 in which questions were posed regarding their experience of emotional exhaustion and items related to their work experiences and professional identity. A statement “I feel burnt out from my job” (never, seldom, sometimes, quite often, or often) enquired about emotional exhaustion. Those responding quite often or often were categorized as emotionally exhausted. Results. Among the GPs, 68% responded (165/244). Of the respondents, 18% were emotionally exhausted. Emotional exhaustion was associated with older age, longer working history, experiences of having too much work, fear and reports of having committed a medical error, low tolerance of uncertainty in their work, and feeling alone at work. No differences in positive work experiences were found. In logistic regression analysis working experience > 5 years (OR 4.1, 95% CI 1.6–10.8; p = 0.0036) and feeling alone at work (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.2–7.1; p = 0.020) predicted emotional exhaustion, having committed a medical error in the past three months predicted it marginally significantly (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.0–5.9, p = 0.057), whereas tolerating uncertainty well protected against it (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.09–0.7; p = 0.0098). Conclusions. Emotional exhaustion among GPs was common and associated with longer working history, having committed a medical error, and feelings of isolation at work. GPs should receive more support throughout their careers. Informa Healthcare 2015-07 /pmc/articles/PMC4750721/ /pubmed/26311207 http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/02813432.2015.1067514 Text en © The Author(s) 2015 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0)
spellingShingle Original Articles
Torppa, M.A.
Kuikka, L.
Nevalainen, M.
Pitkälä, K.H.
Emotionally exhausting factors in general practitioners’ work
title Emotionally exhausting factors in general practitioners’ work
title_full Emotionally exhausting factors in general practitioners’ work
title_fullStr Emotionally exhausting factors in general practitioners’ work
title_full_unstemmed Emotionally exhausting factors in general practitioners’ work
title_short Emotionally exhausting factors in general practitioners’ work
title_sort emotionally exhausting factors in general practitioners’ work
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4750721/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26311207
http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/02813432.2015.1067514
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