Work situation and self-perceived economic situation as predictors of change in burnout--a prospective general population-based cohort study

Trends in burnout and related sick leave duration in working-age adults followed in general practices in Germany between 2012 and 2022

AIMS

This study investigated burnout trends and related sick leave duration in working-age adults followed in general practices in Germany.

METHODS

Participants were aged 20-65 years and were diagnosed with burnout in one of 442 general practices in this country in 2012-2014, 2016-2018, and 2020-2022. The prevalence of burnout and the duration of sick leave in all practices were compared between 2012-2014 and 2016-2018 and between 2016-2018 and 2020-2022. The association between diagnosis years (i.e., 2012-2014, 2016-2018, and 2020-2022) and long-term sick leave (i.e., more than 42 days of sick leave) was investigated using adjusted logistic regression.

RESULTS

The study included 39,793, 46,708, and 50,721 patients diagnosed with burnout in the periods from 2012 to 2014, 2016-2018, and 2020-2022, respectively, and the prevalence of burnout in all patients was 3.6%, 3.8%, and 3.6% during these three periods. This prevalence increased significantly in people aged 61-65 years and those with a Charlson Comorbidity Index of ≥1. The mean (SD) sick leave duration in the population of people with burnout rose from 24.1 (41.9) days in the period of 2012-2014 to 36.2 (65.6) days in the period from 2020 to 2022. Finally, compared with 2012-2014, burnout diagnosed in 2016-2018 and 2020-2022 was associated with higher odds of long-term sick leave.

CONCLUSIONS

In view of these findings, it is clear that public health measures are urgently needed to improve burnout prevention in Germany.

Indicators for Public Mental Health: A Scoping Review

Background: To monitor population mental health, the identification of relevant indicators is pivotal. This scoping review provides a comprehensive overview of current indicators representing the various fields of public mental health core topics. It was conducted as a first step to build up a Mental Health Surveillance for Germany.

Methods: We conducted a systematic MEDLINE search via PubMed. This search was supplemented by an extensive examination of the websites of relevant national as well as international institutions in the context of public mental health and an additional internet search via Google. To structure the data, an expert-based focus group identified superordinate topics most relevant to public mental health to which the identified indicators could be assigned to. Finally, the indicator set was screened for duplicates and appropriate content to arrive at a final set.

Results: Within the various search strategies, we identified 13.811 records. Of these records, a total of 365 records were processed for indicator extraction. The extracted indicators were then assigned to 14 topics most relevant to public mental health as identified by the expert-based focus group. After the exclusion of duplicates and those indicators not meeting criteria of specificity and target group, the final set consisted of 192 indicators.

Conclusion: The presented indicator set provides guidance in the field of current concepts in public mental health monitoring. As a comprehensive compilation, it may serve as basis for future surveillance efforts, which can be adjusted and condensed depending on the particular monitoring focus. Our work provides insights into established indicators included in former surveillance work as well as recent, not yet included indicators reflecting current developments in the field. Since our compilation mainly concludes indicators related to mental health in adults, it should be complemented with indicators specific to children and adolescents. Furthermore, our review revealed that indicators on mental health promotion and prevention are underrepresented in current literature of public mental health and should hence be focused on within future research and surveillance.

Gender role perspectives and job burnout

Women are more likely than men to report physical and emotional exhaustion related to paid work. While this gender gap in job burnout is common in the literature, the mechanism is yet to be thoroughly understood. Our study offers a novel, and admittedly provocative, explanation for the difference in burnout between men and women. We leverage a US survey rich in job and personal information to test whether theoretically relevant factors explain the gender gap in job burnout. Our results suggest that they may not. Instead we find that workers' perspectives regarding women's role in society drive a large gender gap in job burnout. Specifically, "traditional" women are significantly more likely than men to report job burnout. Thus, providing support and resources to transform perceptions and attitudes regarding gender roles may help to reduce job-related burnout resulting from a mismatch between expectations and paid work experiences.

"I'm So Tired": Fatigue as a Persistent Physical Symptom among Working People Experiencing Exhaustion Disorder

Fatigue is widespread in the population, particularly among working people. Exhaustion disorder (ED), a clinical manifestation of burnout, is common, but, after treatment, about one-third still experience fatigue and other physical symptoms. We propose that in some instances, fatigue as a persistent physical symptom (PPS) might be a more appropriate formulation of ED patients' fatigue problems, and we suggest that ED patients who meet fatigue PPS criteria will differ from other ED patients in terms of psychological distress, non-fatigue PPSs and functional impairment. Questionnaires were sent to 10,956 members of a trade union of which 2479 (22.6%) responded. Of 1090 participants who met criteria for ED, 106 (9.7%) met criteria for fatigue as a PPS. Participants who met fatigue PPS criteria scored on average higher on measures of depression, anxiety and functional impairment and were more likely to have clinically significant scores. Moreover, they had 27 times higher odds of meeting other PPS subtypes and reported more non-fatigue PPS subtypes, suggesting a more complex health problem. Specific evidence-based interventions are available for both ED and PPSs, and therefore, it is crucial to accurately formulate the fatigue problem reported by patients to provide appropriate treatment.

Daily interventions and assessments: The effect of online self-compassion meditation on psychological health

Traditional self-compassion-based interventions have been shown to be beneficial for improving psychological health. With the development of technology, online interventions accessible via smart phones start to emerge. The current study aimed to use daily assessments to investigate the effect of online daily self-compassion interventions and its improvement pattern. Sixty-five employees were recruited and completed a 4-week study. The first week was the control period; the second week and the third week were the intervention period and the fourth week was the follow-up period. Online self-compassion meditation significantly improved daily self-compassion and reduced perceived stress and emotional exhaustion, with varied changing patterns. Daily self-compassion and perceived stress did not change in the control period, then started to increase/decline with time during the intervention period, and remained stable in the follow-up period. Daily emotional exhaustion declined with time in the control period and remained stable in the intervention and follow-up period. The intervention effects did not differ for individuals with different levels of trait self-compassion. This study shows that daily online self-compassion meditation is effective and reveals how it works. Future studies can apply this method to examine the effectiveness of other daily online interventions.

Styles of Coping with Stress as a Factor Influencing Professional Burnout among Professional Officers of the Polish Army in the Context of Their Age

The subject of this article is the issue of coping with stress in the context of the level of professional burnout among professional soldiers at the officer rank and the identification of the relationship between occupational burnout and the preferences of the style of coping with stress and the age of the respondents. The study aims to answer the following questions: how does occupational burnout (its individual dimensions according to the concept underlying the construction of a research tool) depend on the style of coping with stress, and whether and how the level of occupational burnout changes depending on the age of soldiers? The study consists of two parts: a theoretical one, in which the issues are presented in relation to the literature on the subject, and an empirical section, presenting the results of research in which 200 soldiers of the Polish Army with the officer rank participated. The research was carried out using questionnaires that met the requirements of psychometric correctness (Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations—CISS and Link Burnout Questionnaire—LBQ). As a result of the research, it turned out that the level of occupational burnout depends on the choice of the style of coping with stress (a higher level of burnout is favored by the preference for an emotional coping strategy), while the style of coping with stress and the level of occupational burnout among professional soldiers with the rank of officer changes with age. The presented research, mainly due to the specifics of the research group, was not undertaken and described in the literature on the subject.

Associations Between Burnout and Mental Disorder Symptoms Among Nurses in Canada

BACKGROUND

Nurses appear to be at a greater risk of burnout compared to other medical professionals. Higher levels of burnout are significantly associated with higher levels of anxiety, stress, and depression symptoms.

PURPOSE

The current study was designed to estimate levels of burnout among Canadian nurses, examine the association between burnout and mental disorder symptoms, and identify characteristics that may increase the risk for reporting symptoms of burnout.

METHOD

Canadian nurses (n = 3257; 94.3% women) were surveyed online in both English and French. The survey assessed current symptoms of burnout and mental disorders (i.e., Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder).

RESULTS

Most nurses (63.2%) reported at least some symptoms of burnout and many (29.3%) reported clinically significant levels of burnout. Age and years of service were the only demographic variables that explained burnout rates. Participants reporting clinically significant levels of burnout were significantly more likely than participants with no burnout to screen positive for all mental disorders, but particularly for Major Depressive Disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

Monitoring burnout may be an effective way to identify nurses at risk of developing symptoms of mental disorders. Younger and early-career nurses are an important group to target for prevention programs.

(RE)CONHECENDO O QUOTIDIANO DOS TRABALHADORES DE UM CENTRO DE SAÚDE: UM CAMINHO PARA PREVENÇÃO DO BURNOUT E A PROMOÇÃO DA SAÚDE

RESUMO Objetivo: compreender o quotidiano dos trabalhadores de um centro de saúde de Florianópolis Método: Estudo de abordagem qualitativa, na forma de uma pesquisa exploratório-descritiva. Participaram da pesquisa 18 trabalhadores. A coleta de dados foi realizada no período de abril a maio de 2014, através de entrevistas semiestruturadas, por meio de um roteiro, contendo as questões norteadoras: "como está o seu dia a dia?" e "como está o seu dia a dia no trabalho?". Os dados foram analisados à luz das noções e dos pressupostos teóricos e da sensibilidade de Michel Maffesoli. Resultados: foram encontradas seis categorias que descrevem o quotidiano dos trabalhadores: falta de tempo: corrido, estressante, cansativo; ótimo, bom, tranquilo; em adaptação; varia de acordo com o dia; razoável, mais ou menos; e organizado. Conclusão: a compreensão do quotidiano dos trabalhadores apontou que a maior parte da tensão e do estresse no dia a dia está concentrada no ambiente laboral.