The Silent Cry of Healthcare Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study on Levels and Determinants of Burnout among Healthcare Workers after First Year of the Pandemic in Turkey

Background

Although the acute phase of the pandemic is over, healthcare workers continue to face challenges. The aim of this study was to determine burnout levels and possible related psychological processes such as psychological flexibility, moral injury, and values among healthcare workers after the first year of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was performed using an online survey distributed through social networks. A sample of 124 front line healthcare workers working during the pandemic, between January and April 2021, were included in the study. Multiple linear regression was used to identify predictors of all 3 burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment).

Results

While 51.6% of healthcare workers experienced high levels of emotional exhaustion, 75.8% of them were found to have experienced high levels of lack of personal accomplishment. On the contrary, 81.5% of the participants reported low levels of depersonalization. Emotional exhaustion was predicted by total Depression Anxiety Stress Scale score (P = .004) and total Moral Injury Events Scale score was the only predictor of depersonalization (P = .051). Predictors of lack of personal accomplishment were the number of days worked in COVID-19 (P = .001), total Moral Injury Events Scale (P=0.004), Valuing Questionnaire (VQ)-Obstruction (P = .009), and total Depression Anxiety Stress Scale score (P = .002). On the other hand, psychological flexibility did not predict any sub-dimension of burnout.

Conclusion

Healthcare workers had high levels of burnout after 1 year with the pandemic. Our findings highlight the importance of factors such as moral injury, values, and emotional distress which need to be taken into consideration to develop future interventions to treat and prevent burnout in healthcare workers.

Can robot-assisted kidney transplantation provide higher quality of life than open kidney transplantation during the early postoperative period?

PURPOSE

Purpose of this study is to investigate the quality of life (QoL) in patients with end-stage renal disease who underwent open or robot-assisted kidney transplantation (OKT and RAKT).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patients who underwent OKT and RAKT at Bakirkoy Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital between June 2016 and December 2018 constituted the target population of this study. The patient group was divided into two groups as per the surgical technique (ie, open vs. robot-assisted). Demographic data, preoperative and postoperative data of all patients were collected prospectively. The QoL of the patients was assessed preoperatively and on the postoperative 30th day.

RESULTS

Sixty-seven patients who underwent OKT and 60 patients who underwent RAKT were included. The mean patient age and BMI were calculated as 40.9 ± 11.6 years and 24.4 ± 2.9 kg/m² , respectively. Patients in the RAKT group were significantly younger than the patients in the OKT group (P = .002). There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of gender, BMI, ASA and the ratio of premptive patients. The mean preoperative hemoglobin level was significantly higher in the OKT group than the RAKT group (P = .003). While mean total ischemia time was shorter in the "open" group, intraoperative blood loss and incision length were shorter in the RAKT group. Duration of surgical drainage and hospital stay was shorter in the "robot-assisted" group. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of SF-36 subparameters preoperatively. The physical component scores of the QoL questionnaire revealed that postoperative impairment of quality of life in the early postoperative period was more significant in the OKT than the RAKT.

CONCLUSION

Patients who underwent RAKT have a higher QoL than the patients who were treated with OKT as per their self-reported QoL scores in the early postoperative period.

The Assessment of Presenteeism and Activity Impairment in Behcet's Syndrome and Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis: A multicentre Study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate key factors for Presenteeism and Activity impairment in multinational patients with Behçet's syndrome (BS) and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS).

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, 364 BS patients from Jordan, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Turkey and 143 RAS patients from the United Kingdom and Turkey were included. Work Productivity Activity Impairment (WPAI) scale was used for Presenteeism and Activity impairment. Mediation analyses were performed to evaluate both direct and indirect causal effects.

RESULTS

Presenteeism score was higher in active patients with genital ulcers and eye involvement as well as patients with comorbidities and current smokers than the others in BS (p< 0.05). In RAS, Presenteeism score was elevated by oral ulcer activity in the direct path (p= 0.0073) and long disease duration as a mediator in the indirect path (p= 0.0191).Patients with active joint involvement had poor scores in Absenteeism, Presenteeism, Overall impairment and Activity impairment compared with those of inactive patients (p < 0.05). Using mediation analysis, the Activity impairment score was directly mediated by joint activity (p = 0.0001) and indirectly mediated through oral ulcer-related pain in BS (p = 0.0309).

CONCLUSION

In BS, Presenteeism was associated with disease activity, presence of comorbidities and being a current smoker, whereas in RAS, Presenteeism was associated with oral ulcer activity and increased length of the disease. Moreover, Activity impairment was adversely affected by joint activity and oral ulcer related pain in BS. Patients need to be empowered by using appropriate treatment strategies in their working environment and daily life.

Oral health is a mediator for disease severity in patients with Behçet's disease: A multiple mediation analysis study

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the study was to examine whether oral health as an infection focus could mediate disease course in patients with Behçet's disease (BD).

METHODS

In the study, oral health of 194 BD patients was examined at baseline and follow-up periods. The reasons for last dental visits were recorded as tooth extraction or regular control visits/planned treatments at the end of follow-up period. The Behçet's disease severity score was calculated with higher scores indicating a more severe course. Mediation analysis was carried out to assess the effects of oral health on disease severity score at follow-up period in the study.

RESULTS

Dental and periodontal indices were found to be higher at follow-up visit compared to those of baseline (P < 0.05). Disease severity score was found to be higher in males (5.3 ± 2.4) compared to females (4.4 ±2.5) in the whole group (P = 0.005). Moreover, patients having tooth extraction at their last dental visit and patients with dental caries had a more severe disease course (5.4 ± 2.4; 5.5 ± 2.5) compared to others (4.2 ± 2.3; 4.4 ± 2.4; P < 0.0001). In multiple mediation analysis, disease severity score was a dependent variable and was directly mediated by male gender (B = -0.8822, P = 0.0145) and indirectly mediated through the presence of dental caries (B = 0.9509 P = 0.0110) and need of tooth extraction (B = 0.8758, P = 0.0128).

CONCLUSION

Both presence of dental caries and need of tooth extraction were observed to be effective mediators for a more severe disease course in BD. Therefore, better oral health should be aimed to eliminate microbial factors, which are a part of pathogenic processes.