Determinants of development and prevention of professional burnout in physicians of GP profile

Introduction. Medical workers, including general practitioners, are one of the most vulnerable categories among helping professions in terms of the formation of disorders of the psycho-emotional sphere, an increase in the levels of occupational stress and professional burnout, an increased anxiety level, and a decrease in the quality of life. Purpose. Establishing the characteristics of the state of the psycho-emotional sphere among doctors of therapeutic specialties (oncologists of the therapeutic profile (outpatient oncologists), pulmonologists, occupational pathologists, who, along with medical work, deal with issues of examination of the relationship of the disease with the profession and examination of professional capability). Material and methods. The study was performed at the Department of Occupational Diseases and Clinical Pharmacology named after honored scientist of the Russian Federation professor V.V. Kosarev, FSBEI HE Samara State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, and the regional center for occupational pathology SBHI SR Samara City Hospital No. 5. The following groups of doctors were examined: group 1 included oncologists of the therapeutic profile (outpatient oncologists) of the outpatient departments of the state budgetary healthcare institutions of the Samara Region (n=30); group 2 consisted of pulmonologists of the clinics of the FSBEI HE Samara State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, SBHI SR Samara Regional Clinical Hospital named after V.D. Seredavin, SBHI SR Samara City Hospital No. 5, and outpatient departments of the State Budgetary Healthcare Institutions of the Samara Region (n=30); group 3 included occupational pathologists of the occupational pathology department of the Regional Center for Occupational Pathology of the SBHI SR Samara City Hospital No.5 and outpatient departments of the state budgetary healthcare institutions of the Samara Region (n=42); group 4 was the control group that included workers in engineering, technical, and economic specialties whose activity is not related to work in medical organizations (n=190). The assessment of the professional burnout was carried out using the Maslach Burnout Inventory developed by American psychologists C. Maslach and S.E. Jackson in adaptation by N.E. Vodopyanova and E.S. Starchenkova, as well as by means of the questionnaire by V.V. Boyko. The processing of the obtained data was carried out by means of the Statistica package from StatSoft (USA). Results. It has been established that the work of physicians of GP specialties is associated with the impact of occupational stress and an increase in the level of professional burnout. Limitations of the study. The study has regional (Samara Region) and professional (in terms of detailing working conditions in the studied comparison groups) limitations. Conclusions. The work of physicians of GP profile is associated with an increase in the levels of occupational stress and professional burnout. At the same time, psychological changes are most pronounced in oncologists of the therapeutic profile (outpatient oncologists), as well as occupational pathologists. It is necessary to continue research into the emotional state of medical personnel in order to conduct timely preventive treatment to maintain the health of medical workers.