Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec>
<jats:title>Background</jats:title>
<jats:p>Hospital physicians have an increased risk for post-traumatic stress caused by work-related trauma. This study examines the frequency of reported traumatic events (TE), post-traumatic stress (PTS) and its possible consequences for the mental state and work ability of physicians at a university hospital.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Methods</jats:title>
<jats:p>As part of the mandatory psychological risk assessment, <jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 145 physicians (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 56 female; 38.6%) were examined at a university hospital in Germany in a cross sectional study. TE, PTS and symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed using the self-report questionnaires “Freiburger Screening Fragebogen to identify patients at risk for the development of a post-traumatic stress disorder in the group of severely injured patients” (PTBS-13), the “Patient Health Questionnaire” (PHQ-2) and the “Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale” (GAD-2). Work ability was assessed using a modified version of the questionnaire for workplace analysis (KFZA). The response rate was 52%.</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Results</jats:title>
<jats:p>Traumatic events were experienced by <jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 125 physicians (86.2%) throughout their whole career. Of these, 19 physicians (15.2%) reported PTS. PTS is reported by 12 of 56 female physicians (63.2%), compared to 7 of 89 reports of PTS by male physicians (36.8%). Physicians with PTS symptoms had higher depression scores (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.007) compared to physicians without TE or with TE, but without PTS. Physicians with PTS reported significantly reduced work ability caused by constantly interrupted work (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.03). Female gender was the greatest risk factor for the development of PTS. (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.001).</jats:p>
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<jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title>
<jats:p>Physicians – especially females – with PTS may have an increased risk of developing depressive symptoms. Therefore, interventions aimed at reducing trauma-related stress symptoms may be helpful in improving mental health of hospital physicians. Further studies with more physicians from different hospitals are necessary to support the results.</jats:p>
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