Professional burnout, anxiety and coping strategies among doctors of therapeutic specialties during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, health care workers (HCWs) turned out to be the most vulnerable category of the population in terms of the risk of developing psycho-emotional disorders.

Purpose. Establishing the features of the state of the psycho-emotional sphere, coping strategies among doctors of therapeutic specialties of COVID hospitals, multidisciplinary hospitals (MP) during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as outpatient clinics (AP) link.

Materials and methods. Examined: 1 group — doctors of therapeutic specialties (DTS) in COVID hospitals (CH) (n = 111); 2 group — DTS in multidisciplinary hospitals (MH) (n = 106); 3 group — DTS in outpatient polyclinic (OP) (n = 102); group 4 is the control group (n = 190). The burnout syndrome was assessed using the Maslach Burnout Questionnaire. The study used the Integrative Anxiety Test (IAT) to study the formation of psycho-emotional disorders in psychoemotional disorders during the coronavirus pandemic. The assessment of coping strategies in during the COVID-19 pandemic was carried out according to the methodology developed by R. Lazarus and S. Folkman, adapted by E.V. Kuftyak.

Results. The features of the formation of professional burnout, the level of anxiety, the formation of coping strategies in DTS of specialized COVID hospitals, MH, and OP link during the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection COVID-19 have been established.

Research limitations. The study has regional (Samara region) limitations.

Conclusions. The activity in DTS of specialized COVID hospitals during the pandemic of a new coronavirus infection, compared with the DTS of MH and DTS of the OP, is associated with an increase in the level of occupational stress, the level of professional burnout, an increase in the level of anxiety and in the use of coping strategies. It is necessary to continue research on the emotional state of medical personnel to timely conduct preventive treatment to maintain the health of medical workers.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study was carried out within the framework of the complex topic of the Department of occupational diseases and clinical pharmacology named after the Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation Professor V.V. Kosarev of Samara State Medical University “A systematic approach to early diagnosis, prevention and prediction of the impact of low-intensity production factors on the health of workers” (state registration number AAAA-A18-118122190069-6, date of statement registered on 21.12.2018). The study was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of the Samara State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation on 11/23/2021.

Contribution of the authors:
Melentyev A.V. — research concept and design, writing the text, compilation of the list of literature, editing;
Babanov S.A. — research concept and design, statistical data processing, writing the text, compilation of the list of literature;
Ostryakova N.A. — research concept and design, statistical data processing, writing the text, compilation of the list of literature;
Lavrentyeva N.E. — writing the text, compilation of the list of literature, editing;
Lysova M.V. — collection and processing of material, statistical data processing, writing the text.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Acknowledgment. The study had no sponsorship.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Received: June 26, 2023 / Revised: October 26, 2023 / Accepted: December 20, 2023 / Published: June 28, 2024