Investigation of COVID-19 Fear and Burnout in General Surgery Assistants

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study is to examine the burnout of general surgery assistants due to fear of Covid-19. Materials and Methods: The study, which had a descriptive and cross-sectional design, was conducted with 103 general surgery residents. Data; It was obtained with the Personal Information Form, Covid-19 Fear Scale and Maslach Burnout Scale. The data were evaluated in the SPSS program. Results: The average score of the residents on the Fear of Covid-19 Scale was found to be above the middle score. While depersonalization and emotional exhaustion, which are the sub-dimensions of the Maslach Burnout Scale, were experienced at moderate levels, it was determined that there was a significant decrease in the personal accomplishment dimension. It has been determined that assistants with a high fear of Covid-19 experience high levels of emotional exhaustion and high levels of depersonalization, as well as a feeling of decreased personal accomplishment. Conclusion: It is important to consider general surgery assistants, who are at high risk of contracting the Covid-19 virus, as risky groups during epidemic periods, and to implement necessary protective measures and crisis management policies including psychological support in reducing burnout syndrome.

Keywords

• Burnout
• fear of COVID-19
• pandemic

Genel Cerrahi Asistanlarının COVID-19 Korkusu ve Tükenmişliklerinin İncelenmesi

Öz

Amaç: Çalışmanın amacı, genel cerrahi asistanlarının COVID-19 korkusu ile tükenmişliklerinin incelenmesidir. Materyal ve Metot: Tanımlayıcı ve kesitsel tasarımda olan çalışma 103 genel cerrahi asistanı ile yapılmıştır. Veriler; kişisel Bilgi Formu, COVID-19 Korku Ölçeği ve Maslach Tükenmişlik Ölçeği ile elde edilmiştir. Veriler SPSS programında değerlendirilmiştir. Bulgular: Asistanların COVID-19 Korkusu Ölçeği puan ortalaması orta puanın üzerinde bulunmuştur. Maslach Tükenmişlik Ölçeği’nin alt boyutları olan duyarsızlaşma ve duygusal tükenme orta düzeyde yaşanırken, kişisel başarı boyutunda ise önemli derecede düşüş olduğu belirlenmiştir. COVID-19 korkusu yüksek olan asistanlarda yüksek düzeyde duygusal tükenme yaşandığı ve yüksek düzeyde duyarsızlaşma geliştiği, aynı zamanda kişisel başarıda azalma hissi yaşandığı saptanmıştır. Sonuç: COVID-19 virüsünün bulaşma riski yüksek olan genel cerrahi asistanlarının salgın dönemlerinde riskli gruplar olarak ele alınması, gerekli koruyucu önlemlerin ve psikolojik desteği kapsayan kriz yönetim politikalarının uygulamaya geçirilmesi tükenme sendromunun azaltılmasında önemlidir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• COVID-19 korkusu
• pandemi
• tükenme

References

1. Bhuiyan AK. MI, Sakib N, Pakpour A, Griffiths MD, Mamun MA. COVID-19 related suicides in Bangladesh due to lockdown and economic factors: Case study evidence from media reports. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2021;19(6):2110-2115. doi:10.1007/ijmh.2021.00307
2. Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, et al. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. Lancet. 2020;395(10227):912-920. doi:10.1016/lancet.2020.30460
3. Martínez-López JÁ, Lázaro-Pérez C, Gómez-Galán J, Fernández-Martínez MDM. Psychological impact of COVID-19 emergency on health professionals: Burnout incidence at the most critical period in Spain. J Clin Med.2020;9(9):3029. doi:10.3390/jcm.2020.9093029
4. Cai H, Tu B, Ma J, et al. Psychological impact and coping strategies of frontline medical staff in Hunan between January and March 2020 during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hubei. China. Med. Sci. Monit. 2020;26:e924171-1- e924171-16. doi:10.12659/msm.2020.924171
5. Ing EB, Xu QA, Salimi A, Torun N. Physician deaths from corona virus (COVID-19) disease. Occup Med. 2020;70(5):370–374. doi:10.1093/occmed.2020.kqaa088
6. Nuñez-Gamez JA, Medina-Bravo PA, Piñeros-López NF, et al. Global outcomes, surgical teams and COVID-19 pandemic: Will the same objectives of global surgery persist? Ann Med Surg. 2021;71:103002. doi:10.1016/j.amsu.2021.103002
7. Martin AN, Petroze RT. Academic global surgery and COVID-19: turning impediments into opportunities. Am. J. Surg. 2020;220(1):53–54.
8. Ganguli S, Yibrehu B, Shah A, Rosseau N, Niba V, Rosseau G. Global surgery in the time of COVID-19: a trainee perspective. Am. J. Surg. 2020;220(6):1534–1535.

9. Arpacıoğlu S, Baltalı Z, Ünübol B. COVID-19 pandemisinde sağlık çalışanlarında tükenmişlik, Covid korkusu, depresyon, mesleki doyum düzeyleri ve ilişkili faktörler. Cukurova Med. J. 2021;46(1):88-100. doi:10.17826/cumj.2021.785609
10. Çelik F, Dağlı R. Fear of COVID-19: A cross-sectional study on the psychological state of the surgical team. Fırat Univ Med J Health Sci. 2021;35(2):107–112.
11. Ahorsu DK, Lin CY, Imani V, Saffari M, Griffiths MD, Pakpour AH. The fear of COVID-19 scale: development and initial validation, Int J Ment Health Addict. 2020;27:1-9.
12. Satıcı, B. Adaptation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Its association with psychological distress and life satisfaction in Turkey. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2020;19(6):1980-1988. doi:10.10.1007/ijmha.2021.00294
13. Maslach C, Leiter MP, Jackson SE. Making a significant difference with burnout interventions: Researcher and practitioner collaboration. J Organ Behav. 2012;33(2):296-300. doi:10.1002/job.2012.784
14. Ergin, C. Doktor ve hemşirelerde tükenmişllik ve Maslach Tükenmişllik Ölçeği’nin uyarlanması. 7.Ulusal Psikoloji Kongresi Bilimsel Çalışmaları. Ekim 25, 1992, Ankara/Türkiye.
15. Abdelghani, M, El-Gohary HM, Fouad E. Hassan MS. Addressing the relationship between perceived fear of COVID-19 virus infection and emergence of burnout symptoms in a sample of Egyptian physicians during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study. Middle East Curr. Psychiatry, 2020;27(70):1-9.
16. Jakovljevic B, Stojanovic K, Nikolic Turnic T, Jakovljevic VL. Burnout of physicians, pharmacists and nurses in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic: A Serbian cross-sectional questionnaire study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2021;18(16):8728. doi:org/10.3390/ijerph.2021.18168728
17. Jalili M, Niroomand M, Hadavand, Zeinali K, Fotouhi A. Burnout among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 pandemic:A cross-sectional study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2021;94(6):1345-1352.
18. Özgünay ŞE, Akça F, Karasu D, Eminoğlu Ş, Gamlı M. Evaluation of fear levels of anesthetists and prophylaxis practices in the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Anestezi Derg. 2021;29(1):25–31.
19. Lu W, Wang H, Lin Y, Li L. Psychological status of medical workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study. Psychiatry Res. 2020;288:1–5.
20. Mora-Magaña I, Lee SA, Maldonado-Castellanos I. Coronaphobia among healthcare professionals in Mexico: A psychometric analysis. Death Studies. 2022;46(2):280-289.
21. Bakioğlu F, Korkmaz O, Ercan H. Fear of COVID-19 and positivity: Mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty, depression, anxiety, and stress. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2021;19(6):2369-2382. doi:10.1007/ijmha.2021.00331
22. Feier CVI, Muntean C, Bardan R, Olariu A, Olariu S. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on a general surgery clinic. J Med Life. 2022;15(3):415-419. doi:10.25122/jml.2022.0087
23. Kursumovic E, Lennane S, Cook TM. Deaths in healthcare workers due to COVID-19: the need for robust data and analysis. Anaesthesia. 2020;75:989–992.
24. Lluch C, Galiana L, Doménech P, Sansó N. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on burnout, compassion fatigue, and compassion satisfaction in healthcare personnel: A systematic review of the literature published during the first year of the pandemic. Healthcare. 2022;10;(2):364. doi:10.3390/healthcare.2022.10020364
25. Ghahramani S, Kasraei H, Hayati R, Tabrizi R, Marzaleh MA. Health care workers' mental health in the face of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Psychiatry Clin Pract. 2023;27(2):208-217.
26. Jakovljevic B, Stojanovic K, Nikolic Turnic, T, Jakovljevic V L. Burnout of physicians, pharmacists and nurses in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic: A Serbian cross-sectional questionnaire study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(16):8728. doi:10.3390/ijerph.2021.18168728
27. Lin M, Battaglioli N, Melamed M, Mott SE, Chung AS, Robinson DW. High prevalence of burnout among us emergency medicine residents: Results from the 2017 national emergency medicine wellness survey. Ann Emerg Med. 2019;74(5):682-690.
28. Yıldırım M, Solmaz F. COVID-19 burnout, COVID-19 stress and resilience: Initial psychometric properties of COVID-19 Burnout Scale. Death Stud. 2022;46:524-532. doi:10.1080/deathstud.2020.1818885
29. Yakut E, Kuru Ö, Güngör Y. Sağlık personelinin COVID-19 korkusu ile tükenmişliği arasındaki ilişkide aşırı iş yükü ve algılanan sosyal desteğin etkisinin yapısal eşitlik modeliyle belirlenmesi. EKEV Akademi Dergisi. 2020;24;(83):241-262.
30. Hu D, Kong Y, Li W, et al. Frontline nurses' burnout, anxiety, depression, and fear statuses and their associated factors during the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China: A large-scale cross-sectional study. E Clin Med. 2020;27;2-8. doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100424