Work addiction and quality of life: a study with physicians

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of life of physicians and investigate to what extent it is affected by work addiction. METHODS: This is an exploratory, descriptive and cross-sectional study, conducted with 1,110 physicians. For data collection, we used a questionnaire with sociodemographic information, the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF, and the Work Addiction Scale. RESULTS: Most physicians presented high quality of life. Female participants presented lower quality of life in the domains psychologic, environment and general (p<0.05). Quality of life was negatively correlated with the number of shifts (p<0.005). The higher the addiction to work, the lower the quality of life. CONCLUSION: The research allowed understanding the implications of work addiction in the quality of life. Further studies are required to support the development of strategies that improve health conditions and quality of life of medical professionals.