Publication: Occupational stress level and its associated factors among malaysian plastic surgeons and plastic surgery medical officers
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Date
2022-11
Authors
Abuzarifa, Naim
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Abstract
Aim: This study was aimed to assess occupational stress level and its associated factors among Malaysian plastic surgeons and plastic surgery medical officers. Introduction: Plastic surgery is a medical specialty whose training covers the reconstructive area and aesthetics, although the glamour often referred to as its identity, is similar to that of surgeons in general, presenting stressful aspects such as dedication of time, personal responsibility, contact with human suffering, working many hours, accumulation of employment links, and unsatisfactory working conditions that can lead to stress and decrease the perception of quality of life. Several studies have found that physicians develop fatigue, which can lead to burnout syndrome and other serious conditions that can lead to the profession's abandonment and a decline in quality of life Methodology: A sample of 135 plastic surgeons and plastic surgery medical officers participated in this cross-sectional survey. All plastic surgeons and medical officers of plastic surgery working in public and private sectors at hospitals and medical centres were included in the study. Plastic surgeons and medical officers who were retired, unreachable and who refuse to consent for the participation were excluded. The socio-demographic, workplace, characteristics, and perceived stress scale were included in the questionnaire. From March to August 2022, the survey was circulated using a consecutive non-random sampling method to all plastic surgeons and plastic surgery medical officers in all regions of Malaysia. Results: Majority of the study participants were plastic surgeons (75.5%), the plastic surgery medical officers were 24.5%. The participants were predominantly males than females. Concerning the ethnicity majority of the plastic surgeons and plastic surgery medical officers were ethnic Malay. More than half of the plastic surgeons and plastic surgery medical officers were married. Majority of the plastic surgeon were having monthly income >10000 RM , while most of the plastic surgery medical officers were having <10000 RM per month. The perceived stress scale reported a moderate level of stress among plastic surgeons and plastic surgery medical officers. A statistically significant association is reported between age in years, monthly income, children, organization, working hours/week, on-calls/month, out-patients/week, and designation of the study participants with p value <0.05. Increased working hours per week (>50 hours) is significantly associated with higher stress level (p=0.007) among plastic surgeons and plastic surgery medical officers. Conclusion: In Malaysia, the plastic surgeons and plastic surgery medical officers reported relatively moderate levels of stress. They face a similar chance of experiencing occupational stress as plastic surgeons and plastic surgery medical officers do around the world. Their stress appears to be associated with long working hours.
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Keywords
Plastic surgeons , plastic surgery medical officers