Will sick leave after a counselling intervention prevent later burnout? A 3-year follow-up study of Norwegian doctors

Occupational stress among Norwegian physicians: A literature review of long-term prospective studies 2007-2019

AIMS

There are signs of increased stress at work among Norwegian physicians over the last decades, not least among general practitioners (GPs). In this review, we identify trends in both occupational stress and adverse work-related predictors of such stress and burnout in Norwegian physicians.

METHODS

We performed an extensive literature search using MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO. We included prospective and repeated cross-sectional studies of work stress among Norwegian physicians published in 2007-2019.

RESULTS

Nine studies with observation periods of 1-20 years were included. Occupational stress (global measure) among all doctors decreased gradually from medical school to 20 years later. The prevalence of an effort-reward imbalance increased fourfold among GPs during the period 2010-2019. Five studies reported higher levels of occupational stress among female physicians than among their male colleagues. Work-home conflict levels increased after graduation until 10 years after leaving medical school and plateaued thereafter. Physicians who graduated in a later cohort reported lower levels of work-home conflict and less workplace violence. Work-home conflict, low colleague support, number of work hours and workload/low autonomy were all independent predictors of occupational stress.

CONCLUSIONS

The reduction in occupational stress during the years after leaving medical school may result from increased competency in clinical work and decreased on-call work. The Co-ordination Act implemented in 2012 may explain the increase in occupational stress among GPs. These findings suggest that both reducing work-home conflict and increasing colleague support are important for doctors' well-being.

Sick Leave Due to Stress, What are the Costs for Dutch Employers?

Purpose Stress-related illnesses are prevalent in Western society, causing sick leave and putting a heavy economic burden on employers and society. For Dutch employers it is particularly relevant to have insight into the costs of absenteeism due to stress-related illness, as they are legally obligated to continue payment of wages. Therefore, this study assessed the duration and costs of an episode of sick leave due to stress-related illness for Dutch employers. Methods Data on sick leave due to various stress-related illnesses were obtained from a nationwide occupational health service database. Stress-related illnesses included tension complaints, burn-out, overexertion, and other reactions to stress. The duration per sick leave episode was estimated in working days, after which the average cost per sick leave period was estimated using age- and gender-specific price weights. Results During the study period, 16,676 employees took 17,338 episodes of sick leave due to stress-related illness. On average, one episode of sick leave lasted 101 working days, for which the costs for the employer were on average €19,151 per worker. Women were responsible for most episodes of sick leave and were on average 37 days more absent per episode compared to men. Moreover, of all kinds of stress-related illnesses, burn-out had the longest duration of sick leave with 313 calendar days and 163 working days, resulting in an average cost of €30,770. Conclusions Sick leave due to stress-related illness places a heavy burden on employers and thus society. Further research should be conducted on how to reduce this burden.

Returning to clinical work and doctors' personal, social and organisational needs: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review aims to synthesise existing evidence on doctors' personal, social and organisational needs when returning to clinical work after an absence.

DESIGN

Systematic review using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

DATA SOURCES

AMED, BNI, CINAHL, EMBASE, EMCARE, HMIC, Medline, PsycINFO and PubMed were searched up to 4 June 2020. Non-database searches included references and citations of identified articles and pages 1-10 of Google and Google Scholar.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Included studies presented quantitative or qualitative data collected from doctors returning to work, with findings relating to personal, social or organisational needs.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Data were extracted using a piloted template. Risk of bias assessment used the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument or Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Qualitative Checklist. Data were not suitable for meta-analyses and underwent narrative synthesis due to varied study designs and mixed methods.

RESULTS

Twenty-four included studies (14 quantitative, 10 qualitative) presented data from 92 692 doctors in the UK (n=13), US (n=4), Norway (n=3), Japan (n=2), Spain (n=1), Canada (n=1). All studies identified personal needs, categorised as work-life balance, emotional regulation, self-perception and identity, and engagement with return process. Seventeen studies highlighted social needs relating to professional culture, personal and professional relationships, and illness stigma. Organisational needs found in 22 studies were flexibility and job control, work design, Occupational Health services and organisational culture. Emerging resources and recommendations were highlighted. Variable quality and high risk of biases in data collection and analysis suggest cautious interpretation.

CONCLUSIONS

This review posits a foundational framework of returning doctors' needs, requiring further developed through methodologically robust studies that assess the impact of length and reason for absence, before developing and evaluating tailored interventions. Organisations, training programmes and professional bodies should refine support for returning doctors based on evidence.

Comparing International Experiences With Electronic Health Records Among Emergency Medicine Physicians in the United States and Norway: Semistructured Interview Study

Background

The variability in physicians’ attitudes regarding electronic health records (EHRs) is widely recognized. Both human and technological factors contribute to user satisfaction. This exploratory study considers these variables by comparing emergency medicine physician experiences with EHRs in the United States and Norway.

Objective

This study is unique as it aims to compare individual experiences with EHRs. It creates an opportunity to expand perspective, challenge the unknown, and explore how this technology affects clinicians globally. Research often highlights the challenge that health information technology has created for users: Are the negative consequences of this technology shared among countries? Does it affect medical practice? What determines user satisfaction? Can this be measured internationally? Do specific factors account for similarities or differences? This study begins by investigating these questions by comparing cohort experiences. Fundamental differences between nations will also be addressed.

Methods

We used semistructured, participant-driven, in-depth interviews (N=12) for data collection in conjunction with ethnographic observations. The conversations were recorded and transcribed. Texts were then analyzed using NVivo software (QSR International) to develop codes for direct comparison among countries. Comprehensive understanding of the data required triangulation, specifically using thematic and interpretive phenomenological analysis. Narrative analysis ensured appropriate context of the NVivo (QSR International) query results.

Results

Each interview resulted in mixed discussions regarding the benefits and disadvantages of EHRs. All the physicians recognized health care’s dependence on this technology. In Norway, physicians perceived more benefits compared with those based in the United States. Americans reported fewer benefits and disproportionally high disadvantages. Both cohorts believed that EHRs have increased user workload. However, this was mentioned 2.6 times more frequently by Americans (United States [n=40] vs Norway [n=15]). Financial influences regarding health information technology use were of great concern for American physicians but rarely mentioned among Norwegian physicians (United States [n=37] vs Norway [n=6]). Technology dysfunctions were the most common complaint from Norwegian physicians. Participants from each country noted increased frustration among older colleagues.

Conclusions

Despite differences spanning geographical, organizational, and cultural boundaries, much is to be learned by comparing individual experiences. Both cohorts experienced EHR-related frustrations, although etiology differed. The overall number of complaints was significantly higher among American physicians. This study augments the idea that policy, regulation, and administration have compelling influence on user experience. Global EHR optimization requires additional investigation, and these results help to establish a foundation for future research.

"Who I Am Now, Is More Me." An Interview Study of Patients' Reflections 10 Years After Exhaustion Disorder

Aim: To achieve a deeper understanding of the patient's perception regarding individual aspects related to the development of exhaustion, hindering and supporting factors in the recovery process, and potential remaining consequences, 7-12 years after receiving an exhaustion disorder diagnosis. Participants and Methods: Twenty patients previously diagnosed with and treated for exhaustion disorder were interviewed 7-12 years after onset of the disease. The semi-structured interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed with inductive content analysis. Results: Three main themes with patterns of shared meaning resulted from the analysis: "it's about who I am," "becoming a more authentic me," and "the struggle never ends." The interviewees described rehabilitation from exhaustion disorder as the start of an important personal development toward a truer and more authentic self-image. They perceived this as an ongoing long-lasting process where learned behavior and thought patterns related to overcommitment and overcompliance needed to be re-evaluated. The results also convey long-term consequences such as cognitive difficulties and reduces energy, uncertainty about one's own health, and the need to prioritize among one's relationships. Conclusion: Patients with exhaustion disorder are still struggling with dysfunctional strategies and functional impairments such as cognitive problems which limit their lives, 10 years after receiving their exhaustion disorder diagnosis. While informants describe some positive consequences of ED, the results also emphasize the importance of acknowledging that the patients are embedded in systems of relationships, in working life as well as in family life. This needs to be considered, together with other aspects, when working toward prevention of stress-related mental health problems.

Interventions to minimise doctors’ mental ill-health and its impacts on the workforce and patient care: the Care Under Pressure realist review

Background

The growing incidence of mental ill-health in health professionals, including doctors, is a global concern. Although a large body of literature exists on interventions that offer support, advice and/or treatment to sick doctors, it has not yet been synthesised in a way that takes account of the complexity and heterogeneity of the interventions, and the many dimensions (e.g. individual, organisational, sociocultural) of the problem.

Objectives

Our aim was to improve understanding of how, why and in what contexts mental health services and support interventions can be designed to minimise the incidence of doctors’ mental ill-health. The objectives were to review interventions to tackle doctors’ mental ill-health and its impact on the clinical workforce and patient care, drawing on diverse literature sources and engaging iteratively with diverse stakeholder perspectives to produce actionable theory; and recommendations that support the tailoring, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of contextually sensitive strategies to tackle mental ill-health and its impacts.

Design

Realist literature review consistent with the Realist And Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards quality and reporting standards.

Data sources

Bibliographic database searches were developed and conducted using MEDLINE (1946 to November week 4 2017), MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-indexed Citations (1946 to 6 December 2017) and PsycINFO (1806 to November week 2 2017) (all via Ovid) and Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (1987 to 6 December 2017) (via ProQuest) on 6 December 2017. Further UK-based studies were identified by forwards and author citation searches, manual backwards citation searching and hand-searching relevant journal websites.

Review methods

We included all studies that focused on mental ill-health; all study designs; all health-care settings; all studies that included medical doctors/medical students; descriptions of interventions or resources that focus on improving mental ill-health and minimising its impacts; all mental health outcome measures, including absenteeism (doctors taking short-/long-term sick leave); presenteeism (doctors working despite being unwell); and workforce retention (doctors leaving the profession temporarily/permanently). Data were extracted from included articles and the data set was subjected to realist analysis to identify context–mechanism–outcome configurations.

Results

A total of 179 out of 3069 records were included. Most were from the USA (45%) and had been published since 2009 (74%). More included articles focused on structural-level interventions (33%) than individual-level interventions (21%), but most articles (46%) considered both levels. Most interventions focused on prevention, rather than treatment/screening, and most studies referred to doctors/physicians in general, rather than to specific specialties or career stages. Nineteen per cent of the included sources provided cost information and none reported a health economic analysis. The 19 context–mechanism–outcome configurations demonstrated that doctors were more likely to experience mental ill-health when they felt isolated or unable to do their job, and when they feared repercussions of help-seeking. Healthy staff were necessary for excellent patient care. Interventions emphasising relationships and belonging were more likely to promote well-being. Interventions creating a people-focused working culture, balancing positive/negative performance and acknowledging positive/negative aspects of a medical career helped doctors to thrive. The way that interventions were implemented seemed critically important. Doctors needed to have confidence in an intervention for the intervention to be effective.

Limitations

Variable quality of included literature; limited UK-based studies.

Future work

Use this evidence synthesis to refine, implement and evaluate interventions.

Study registration

This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42017069870.

Funding

This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research programme and will be published in full in Health Services and Delivery Research; Vol. 8, No. 19. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Pegasus Health Pastoral Care Programme

INTRODUCTION In New Zealand, 41% of general practitioners (GPs) intend to retire by 2025. Increasing workforce shortages and other stressors are putting doctors at risk of burnout, which in turn can put patients at risk of harm. Offering a range of resources can signal an organisation's commitment to physician wellness while improving patient safety and organisational stability. AIM To replace the current reactive approach to impaired doctors with a proactive system of monitoring performance with the goal of identifying problems early. METHODS This paper reports on an initiative of Pegasus Health Charitable to provide pastoral care to GPs in Canterbury experiencing increased stress, burnout or problems leading to impaired performance. RESULTS The pastoral care programme has been running successfully for 9 years and has helped 32 GPs. Because of the low numbers, the programme needs to be individualised and confidential. CONCLUSION Recent developments have seen Pegasus Health adopt a systematic approach to monitoring and supporting health practitioners. This includes the monitoring of available data on GPs at risk. Data collection is being used to manage the "psychological health" of doctors, including complaints, prescribing, referral data and attendance at education sessions.

Correspondence in Stakeholder Assessment of Health, Work Capacity and Sick Leave in Workers with Comorbid Subjective Health Complaints? A Video Vignette Study

Purpose The purpose of this study is to test if there is correspondence in stakeholders' assessments of health, work capacity and sickness certification in four workers with comorbid subjective health complaints based on video vignettes. Methods A cross sectional survey among stakeholders (N = 514) in Norway in 2009/2010. Logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression was used to obtain the estimated probability of stakeholders choosing 100 % sick leave, partial sick leave or work and the estimation of odds ratio of stakeholder assessment compared to the other stakeholders for the individual worker. Results The supervisors were less likely to assess poor health and reduced work capacity, and more likely to suggest partial sick leave and full time work compared to the GPs for worker 1. The public was less likely to assess comorbidity and reduced work capacity, and 6 and 12 times more likely to suggest partial sick leave and full time work compared to the GPs for worker 1. Stakeholders generally agreed in their assessments of workers 2 and 3. The public was more likely to assess poor health, comorbidity and reduced work capacity, and the supervisors more likely to assess comorbidity and reduced work capacity, compared to the GPs for worker 4. Compared to the GPs, all other stakeholders were less likely to suggest full time work for this worker. Conclusions Our results seem to suggest that stakeholders have divergent assessments of complaints, health, work capacity, and sickness certification in workers with comorbid subjective health complaints.

Peer counselling for doctors in Norway: A qualitative study of the relationship between support and surveillance

RATIONALE

Peer support can entail collegial responsibility for counselling and support as well as reactions to academic or ethical failure. These considerations can be complementary, but also conflicting.

OBJECTIVE

This article focuses on how the peer support programme in Norway addresses these considerations.

METHODS

Focus group interviews held with Norwegian peer counsellors from August 2011 to June 2012 were analysed by a stepwise deductive-inductive method.

RESULTS

Based on organisational theory, two "ideal types" of counsellors were identified from the data, and these were then used to reanalyse the text. We found that the organisational framework is associated with the peer counsellors' role conception and thereby the relationship between the counsellor and the help-seeking doctor. The relationship between informal frameworks like collegiality, confidence and discretion, and more formalized incentive-driven frameworks, appear to influence the accessibility to peer support, the mandate to provide relevant help and the understanding of what peer support represents.

CONCLUSION

The study showed the need for a continuous awareness of a balance between the informal and the more formalized elements in the framework for peer support. This is of importance for how the service can contribute to better health among doctors and to secure quality and safety in the treatment of patients. The analysis can also be used to demonstrate the consequences of how the peer support program is designed - such as the degree of formalisation and the balance between "hard" and "soft" ways to regulate the interaction between peer counsellors and doctors - for the ability to achieve the stated objectives of the service.

Work-home interface stress: an important predictor of emotional exhaustion 15 years into a medical career

The importance of work-home interface stress can vary throughout a medical career and between genders. We studied changes in work-home interface stress over 5 yr, and their prediction of emotional exhaustion (main dimension of burn-out), controlled for other variables. A nationwide doctor cohort (NORDOC; n=293) completed questionnaires at 10 and 15 yr after graduation. Changes over the period were examined and predictors of emotional exhaustion analyzed using linear regression. Levels of work-home interface stress declined, whereas emotional exhaustion stayed on the same level. Lack of reduction in work-home interface stress was an independent predictor of emotional exhaustion in year 15 (β=-0.21, p=0.001). Additional independent predictors were reduction in support from colleagues (β=0.11, p=0.04) and emotional exhaustion at baseline (β=0.62, p<0.001). Collegial support was a more important predictor for men than for women. In separate analyses, significant adjusted predictors were lack of reduction in work-home interface stress among women, and reduction of collegial support and lack of reduction in working hours among men. Thus, change in work-home interface stress is a key independent predictor of emotional exhaustion among doctors 15 yr after graduation. Some gender differences in predictors of emotional exhaustion were found.

Differences in sickness absence between self-employed and employed doctors: a cross-sectional study on national sample of Norwegian doctors in 2010

Background

Doctors have a low prevalence of sickness absence. Employment status is a determinant in the multifactorial background of sickness absence. The effect of doctors’ employment status on sickness absence is unexplored. The study compares the number of sickness absence days during the last 12 months and the impact of employment status, psychosocial work stress, self-rated health and demographics on sickness absence between self-employed practitioners and employed hospital doctors in Norway.

Methods

The study population consisted of a representative sample of 521 employed interns and consultants and 313 self-employed GPs and private practice specialists in Norway, who received postal questionnaires in 2010. The questionnaires contained items on sickness absence days during the last 12 months, employment status, demographics, self-rated health, professional autonomy and psychosocial work stress.

Results

84% (95% CI 80 to 88%) of self-employed and 60% (95% CI 55 to 64%) of employed doctors reported no absence at all last year. In three multivariate logistic regression models with sickness absence as response variable, employment category was a highly significant predictor for absence vs. no absence, 1 to 3 days of absence vs. no absence and 4 to 99 days of absence vs. no absence), while in a model with 100 or more days of absence vs. no absence, there was no difference between employment categories, suggesting that serious chronic disease or injury is less dependent on employment category. Average or poor self-rated health and low professional autonomy, were also significant predictors of sickness absence, while psychosocial work stress, age and gender were not.

Conclusion

Self-employed GPs and private practice specialist reported lower sickness absence than employed hospital doctors. Differences in sickness compensation, and organisational and individual factors may to a certain extent explain this finding.