Burnout and self-perceived health among Finnish psychiatrists and child psychiatrists: a national survey

Aims: This study investigated burnout and related health matters among a sample of Finnish physicians working within the field of psychiatry.Methods: A postal questionnaire was sent to one in three licensed physicians randomly selected from the register of the Finnish Medical Association (FMA). The response rate was 74% (n = 3133).Results: Psychiatrists and child psychiatrists reported burnout, threat of severe burnout, depression, and mental disorder more commonly than other physicians. Moreover, psychiatrists and child psychiatrists reported less often "good" or "rather good" self-perceived health. Depression had a moderate positive correlation with overall MBI score. Lack of possibilities to consult a colleague, and supervision of work, experience of threat of violence, and self-reported depression were significantly associated with overall burnout level and emotional exhaustion.Conclusions: Emotional exhaustion as a symptom of burnout was common among psychiatrists, especially among those working in community care, and child psychiatrists. Problems of general health, as well as mental health, among psychiatrists and child psychiatrists are in need of attention.</p

Työuupumuksen kehityspolut kuntoutuksessa: henkilösuuntautunut näkökulma

Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin työikäisten kuntoutujien (N = 85) työuupumuksen kehityspolkuja vuoden kestävän kuntoutuksen ja puolen vuoden seurannan aikana. Lisäksi tutkittiin taustamuuttujien, työuupumuksen ennakoijien ja seurausten yhteyttä työuupumuksen kehityspolkuihin. Neljän mittauksen perusteella yhteensä puolentoista vuoden aikana aineistosta löytyi kolme kehityspolkuryhmää: lievästi työuupuneet (n = 39); työuupuneet – hyötyneet (n = 29); sekä työuupuneet – ei-hyötyneet (n = 17). Hyötymisen kriteerinä pidettiin työuupumusoireiden vähenemistä. Työuupumuksesta toipuminen oli yhteydessä voimavarojen lisääntymiseen ja vaatimusten vähenemiseen työssä sekä työtyytyväisyyden lisääntymiseen ja masentuneisuuden vähenemiseen. Työuupumuskuntoutuksen tarkempi kohdentaminen on tarpeen, sillä kuntoutuksessa oli toisaalta vähäisistä työuupumusoireista kärsiviä kuntoutujia ja toisaalta kuntoutujia, jotka pääsivät mahdollisesti kuntoutukseen liian myöhään

The sense of coherence, occupation and the risk of coronary heart disease in the Helsinki Heart Study

The risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) was studied in 4405 Finnish middle-aged working men in different occupations according to their sense of coherence (SOC). The study design was prospective and the follow-up time was eight years. Clinical findings such as total cholesterol, systolic blood pressure and body-mass index showed differences when comparing blue and white collar workers. Lifestyle factors such as smoking also differed, but leisure time physical activity depended on SOC. In the white collar work environment the low SOC tertile had a high CHD incidence of 20.1 per 1000 person-years; the incidences in the medium and high SOC tertiles were 10.9 and 12.3, respectively. A similar effect was not observed in the blue collar work environment. There, contrary to theoretical expectations, the low SOC tertile had the lowest incidence of CHD. The difference in the CHD incidence pattern depended on the blue and white collar dichotomy and not on the branch (state agencies vs. industry). The SOC had a salutogenic effect among white collar workers, but failed to have any consequent effect on the health of blue collar workers. Further study is needed to look at the psychosocial factors among blue collar workers.Sense of coherence Coronary heart disease Occupation White and blue collar workers Finland

Lakimiesten työolot ja terveys -tutkimus 1999

Suomen Lakimiesliitto tilasi Työterveyslaitokselta tutkimuksen lakimiesten työoloista, henkisestä hyvinvoinnista ja työuupumuksesta sekä terveydestä. Vastaavaa tutkimusta ei Suomen lakimieskunnan osalta ole tehty aikaisemmin. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin postikyselynä marras-joulukuussa 1998. Lakimiesliiton jäsenrekisteristä poimittiin satunnaisotantana yhteensä noin 3 000 vastaajaa (vastausprosentti oli 51 %). Suurimmat ammattiryhmät olivat tuomarit, asiantuntijat, johtajat ja esimiehet. Työolojen osalta selvitettiin työn vaatimuksia, kuormitustekijöitä ja voimavaroja, työpaikan vuorovaikutusta ja työilmapiiriä sekä työn merkitystä ja arvostusta. Lisäksi tutkittiin lakimiesten työhyvinvointia, erityisesti työuupumusta sekä terveyttä, nautintoaineiden ja terveyspalvelujen käyttöä, liikuntaharrastuksia ja selviytymiskeinoja työn rasituksista

Maintenance of subjective health during a merger: the role of experienced change and pre-merger social support at work in white- and blue-collar workers

Prospective research on psychosocial effects on employees' health associated with organizational mergers has been scarce. The first aim of this study was to explore the subjective health effects (exhaustion and functional incapacity) of an organizational merger among employees who had experienced a change in their own job position differently (improved, unaltered, and declined). Secondly, the effects of pre-merger social support (organizational, supervisor, and coworkers) at work on the experienced change in job position and on subjective health were examined. The merger took place in 1999 between two multinational firms of equal size. The study is based on two surveys (n=2,225) carried out in 1996 and in 2000 in the Finnish part of the company. The data on age, sex, pre-merger sickness absence (1996-98) and subjective health status (1996) were used as covariates. The results indicate that all sources of social support had a significant effect on the experience of change in one's job position. A decline in job position strongly increased the risk of poor subjective health after the merger. Weak organizational support was associated with impaired subjective health, especially in blue-collar workers, while weak supervisor support impaired functional capacity in white-collar workers. In turn, strong co-workers' support increased the risk of poor subjective health among blue-collar workers when their job position declined. We conclude that negative changes experienced in one's job position and lack of upper-level social support at work create a potential risk for health impairment in different employee groups in merging enterprises.Finland Organizational change Exhaustion Functional incapacity Social support Employee status

Job characteristics, physical and psychological symptoms, and social support as antecedents of sickness absence among men and women in the private industrial sector

Most longitudinal studies on the relationship between psychosocial health resources and risks, and the employees' subsequent sickness absences have been conducted in the public sector. The purpose of this study was to find out psychosocial antecedents of sickness absenteeism in the private industrial sector. The effects of job characteristics (job autonomy and job complexity), physical and psychological symptoms, and social support (from coworkers and supervisors) on sickness absenteeism were investigated. The number of long (4-21 days) and very long (>21 days) sickness absence episodes of 3895 persons (76% men and 24% women, mean age 44 years) was obtained from the health registers of a multinational forest industry corporation in 1995-1998. A questionnaire survey on the working conditions and health of the workers was carried out in 1996. The follow-up time of the sickness absences was 1-year 9-month. Job autonomy was found to be associated with long and very long episodes in men (rate ratio (RR) in the lowest autonomy group approximately 2 times higher than the highest autonomy group), and with very long episodes of absence in women (2-3 times higher RR between the low vs. the high category). Low job complexity predicted men's very long absences (RR 1.4). Long and very long episodes were associated with physical and psychological symptoms (RR 1.2-1.7) among men and women. Lack of coworkers' support increased the frequency of very long sickness absence among men (RR 1.4), and lack of supervisor's support among women (RR 1.6). Also, some interaction effects of social support variables were observed among both genders. We conclude that the studied psychosocial factors are associated with subsequent sickness absence, and that the associations are partly gender-specific. The results showing which variables are related to employees' sickness absenteeism in the private industrial sector can be applied in human resource management and health service planning.Finland Absenteeism Sickness absence Psychosocial factors Job characteristics Gender differences