Harmonized definition of occupational burnout : A systematic review, semantic analysis, and Delphi consensus in 29 countries

Funding Information: This study was supported by the University of Lausanne and European Cooperation in Science and Technology, Action CA 16216 "Network on the Coordination and Harmonisation of European Occupational Cohorts” (OMEGA-NET). Publisher Copyright: © 2021, Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health. All rights reserved.Objective A consensual definition of occupational burnout is currently lacking. We aimed to harmonize the definition of occupational burnout as a health outcome in medical research and reach a consensus on this definition within the Network on the Coordination and Harmonisation of European Occupational Cohorts (OMEGA-NET). Methods First, we performed a systematic review in MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Embase (January 1990 to August 2018) and a semantic analysis of the available definitions. We used the definitions of burnout and burnout-related concepts from the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED-CT) to formulate a consistent harmonized definition of the concept. Second, we sought to obtain the Delphi consensus on the proposed definition. Results We identified 88 unique definitions of burnout and assigned each of them to 1 of the 11 original definitions. The semantic analysis yielded a first proposal, further reformulated according to SNOMED-CT and the panelists` comments as follows: "In a worker, occupational burnout or occupational physical AND emotional exhaustion state is an exhaustion due to prolonged exposure to work-related problems". A panel of 50 experts (researchers and healthcare professionals with an interest for occupational burnout) reached consensus on this proposal at the second round of the Delphi, with 82% of experts agreeing on it. Conclusion This study resulted in a harmonized definition of occupational burnout approved by experts from 29 countries within OMEGA-NET. Future research should address the reproducibility of the Delphi consensus in a larger panel of experts, representing more countries, and examine the practicability of the definition.Peer reviewe

Quel travail voulons-nous ? La grande enquête

National audienceDans leur grande majorité, les Français aiment travailler, même s'ils souffrent des conditions d'exercice de leur métier. C'est cette expérience que Radio France a voulu recueillir en donnant la parole à ses auditeurs. Pour qu'ils expriment leurs satisfactions, leurs attentes, mais aussi leurs déceptions. Près de 6 000 personnes ont pris la plume pour raconter leur histoire et proposer de nouvelles manières de vivre le travail. Ce livre est le miroir de cette enquête sans précédent. Une sociologue, un psychologue et un philosophe ont tour à tour commenté les résultats et esquissé des pistes pour améliorer le travail. Un syndicaliste et un chef d'entreprise se sont efforcés de replacer le débat dans le contexte économique actuel. Les textes des grands philosophes font écho à ces cahiers de rêves et de doléances

Impact of work-related psychosocial factors on mental health: A cross-sectional study in the French working population

International audienceBACKGROUND. According to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety disorders, affect more than one in six people across the European Union in any given year. In the past few decades, mental health problems have increasingly contributed to sickness absence and long-term disability, and return to work is often complicated even if re-employment programs have a modest effect on the quality of life. Mental disorders lead to higher rates of absenteeism and constitute a leading cause of early retirement in Europe and have a direct impact on workplaces through reducing productivity, and increasing healthcare costs. A better understanding of work-related psychosocial factors (PSF) associated with employee’s mental health is important to help decision-makers and public authority to consider specific actions.AIMS. The aim of this study at first, is to determine the exposure of the French work population to work-related PSF and second, to measure the impact of PSF on mental health.DATA. The present work is based on a cross-sectional study conducted in march 2018 on a sample of 3200 workers, representative of the French working population. The sample has been randomly drawn from the French database “Ipsos Access Panel” and data were collected within a questionnaire administered during a computer assisted web interview (CAWI). To measure the level of mental health for each individual, the validated General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28 items), constructed by Goldberg is used. GHQ-28 items, which is surely the most internationally used, is a self-administered screening questionnaire designed to detect probable psychiatric disorder in primary care settings. The questionnaire doesn’t give any information on the basic health status of the subject. It allows to know if the interviewee is better or worse than usual at the time of the questionnaire. The French version of the questionnaire, used in our study, has been validated. In order to measure psychosocial factors (PSF) at work, 44-item questionnaire is developed. These factors were inspired by major theoretical works from Karasek, Siegrist and Greenberg, and the French report by Michel Gollac. In addition, fifty individual covariates about socio-demographic situation, health and life hygiene conditions, job characteristics and work environment were measured. In our study, we focused only on some of them. Indeed, only nine variables were extracted in the database that could be important in the prediction of mental health. These variables are: gender, age, work duration per week, working on the week-end, working at night, work on staggered hours, commuting duration, previous experience of unemployment and chronic medical condition.METHODS. A multiple logistic regression is used to estimate the impact of each work-related PSF on employee’s mental health, adjusted on the nine confounders. RESULTS. This study analyzed French 2803 employees, among them 48.6% women, with a mean age of 41.4 (11.13). According to the literature and to the distribution of GHQ-28 score in the sample, we choose a threshold of 24 to identify potential psychiatric cases. This was 22.2%, IC95[20,6; 24.0]. Ten PSF remains significantly associated with mental health. “Having problems to handle professional and personal responsibilities” was reported by 15% of the population and has the strongest association with mental health (Odd Ratio OR=1.97, Confidence Interval 95% [1.52; 2.54]). Among people exposed, 45% were potential psychiatric cases whereas 18% among unexposed. 52% of the sample reported having an unsatisfactory job compensation (OR=1.42 [1.15, 1.77]). Job insecurity (OR=1.44 [1.15; 1.78], 42% exposed), lack of social support (OR=1.63 [1.29; 2.06], 27% exposed) were also identified, as well as the emotional burden of the job (OR=1.43 [1.13; 1.79], 43% exposed), and the absence of symbolic compensation of the job in terms of self- esteem (OR=1.32 [1.03;1.69], 22% exposed). The other PSF were unsatisfactory communication at work (OR=1.39 [1.11; 1.75], 43% exposed), feeling afraid when doing the job (OR=1.53, [1.21; 1.93], 28% exposed), doing repetitive tasks (OR=1.29 [1.04; 1.60], 38% exposed) and having a highly cognitive demanding job in term of concentration (OR=1.35 [1.08; 1.70], 32% exposed). In addition, four individual covariates were associated to mental health: having a bad medical condition, being woman, being over 45 years old and work more than 50 hours per week.CONCLUSION. Our study identified 10 PSF associated with mental health with an important exposition rate among employees. The study provided an initial look at the mental health disorders for French employees and the urgency to address mental health at workplace. As correlation does not imply causality, a causal analysis should also be performed before generating recommendations for work conditions

How to Identify and Prioritize Psychosocial Factors Impacting Stress Level

<div><p>We develop a methodological approach to identify and prioritize psychosocial factors (stressors) requiring priority action to reduce stress levels. Data analysis was carried out on a random sample of 10 000 French employees who completed, during a routine interview with the occupational physician, a 25-item questionnaire about stress levels, as well as a questionnaire about 58 stressors grouped into 5 latent variables: job control, job context, relationships at work, tasks performed and recognition. Our method combines Importance-Performance Analysis, a valuable approach for prioritizing improvements in the quality of services, with Partial Least Squares-Path modeling, a Structural Equation Modeling approach widely applied in psychosocial research. Findings on our data suggest two areas worthy of attention: one with five stressors on which decision makers should concentrate, and another with five stressors that managers should leave alone when acting to reduce stress levels. We show that IPA is robust when answers to questions are dichotomized, as opposed to the initial 6-point Likert scale. We believe that our approach will be a useful tool for experts and decision-makers in the field of stress management and prevention.</p></div

Database.xlsx

This database includes data on 10 000 employees working for 3 different companies. their responses to a 58-item questionnaire on psychosocial factors and to to a 25-item questionnaire on stress are included<br

Path coefficients and contributions of each block of stressors to the stress block: β (R²).

<p>Path coefficients and contributions of each block of stressors to the stress block: β (R²).</p

First eigenvalue for each latent variable and Cronbach's α (N = 10 000).

<p>First eigenvalue for each latent variable and Cronbach's α (N = 10 000).</p

Illustration of variation in stress level y for 2 different stressors x₁ and x_2.

<p>Illustration of variation in stress level y for 2 different stressors x₁ and x_2.</p