The psychological impact of COVID-19 on frontline doctors in Tshwane public hospitals

dc.contributor.authorDuffton, Juliet D.
dc.contributor.authorHeystek, Marthinus J.
dc.contributor.authorEngelbrecht, Andreas
dc.contributor.authorRajan, Suma
dc.contributor.authorDu Toit, Renier A.
dc.date.accessioned2024-02-16T11:28:01Z
dc.date.available2024-02-16T11:28:01Z
dc.date.issued2023-12
dc.descriptionDATA AVAILABILITY : Data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, J.D.D., on request.en_US
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND : The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic placed immense pressure on frontline doctors. Burnout is a psychological syndrome that develops in response to chronic work stress. It consists of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP) and reduced personal accomplishment (PA). Burnout is associated with personal dysfunction and compromises the work profession and patient safety. International studies suggest burnout is exacerbated during a pandemic. METHODS : We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional observational study. Respondents included frontline doctors working in emergency medicine, family medicine and internal medicine during COVID-19 in Tshwane public hospitals. The survey included two validated questionnaires, the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21. The aim was to determine the prevalence and severity of burnout, psychological and somatic symptoms in frontline doctors. RESULTS : Of the 163 participants, we found clinical burnout to be present in 58.9% (n = 96) and extreme burnout in 19.6% (n = 32). Moderate to extremely severe levels of stress, anxiety and depression were present in 55.1% (n = 90), 43.6% (n = 71) and 22.1% (n = 36) of participants, respectively. We found significant correlations between burnout and psychological symptoms. Increased levels of burnout, anxiety, depression and stress were found to be meaningfully associated with adverse somatic symptoms. CONCLUSION : Our study demonstrated an insufferably high prevalence of burnout and psychosomatic symptoms in frontline doctors during COVID-19. In the event of future pandemics, more measures should be taken to support frontline doctors. CONTRIBUTION : Pandemic-associated burnout and its psychophysical consequences have not been studied in frontline doctors in South Africa.en_US
dc.description.departmentFamily Medicineen_US
dc.description.librarianhj2024en_US
dc.description.sdgSDG-03:Good heatlh and well-beingen_US
dc.description.urihttps://www.safpj.co.zaen_US
dc.identifier.citationDuffton, J.D., Heystek, M.J., Engelbrecht, A., Rajan S. & Du Toit, R.A. The psychological impact of COVID-19 on frontline doctors in Tshwane public hospitals. South African Family Practice 2023;65(1), a5807. https://doi.org/10.4102/safp.v65i1.5807.en_US
dc.identifier.issn2078-6190 (print)
dc.identifier.issn2078-6204 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.4102/safp.v65i1.5807
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/94691
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherAOSISen_US
dc.rights© 2023. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.en_US
dc.subjectCOVID-19 pandemicen_US
dc.subjectCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)en_US
dc.subjectPandemicen_US
dc.subjectSouth Africa (SA)en_US
dc.subjectFrontlineen_US
dc.subjectDoctorsen_US
dc.subjectPsychologicalen_US
dc.subjectSomatic symptomsen_US
dc.subjectStressen_US
dc.subjectAnxietyen_US
dc.subjectDepressionen_US
dc.subjectBurnouten_US
dc.subject.otherHealth sciences articles SDG-03
dc.subject.otherSDG-03: Good health and well-being
dc.subject.otherHealth sciences articles SDG-11
dc.subject.otherSDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities
dc.titleThe psychological impact of COVID-19 on frontline doctors in Tshwane public hospitalsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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