Differential effects of healthcare worker burnout on psychotropic medication use and misuse by occupational level.

PURPOSE: Burnout has been well examined among physicians and other high-wage, high-autonomy healthcare positions. However, lower-wage healthcare workers with less workplace autonomy (e.g., medical assistants, nurses' aides) represent a substantial proportion of the workforce, but remain understudied. We aimed to examine the effects of burnout on psychotropic medication use and misuse and whether these effects differed by occupational level. METHODS: In March 2022, we collected data from a diverse sample of US healthcare workers (N = 200) and examined the cross-sectional relationship between burnout and changes in prescribed psychotropic medication (i.e., starting, stopping, and/or having a change in the dose/frequency) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also separately examined the relationship between burnout and psychotropic medication misuse (i.e., without a prescription, in greater amounts, more often, longer than prescribed, and/or for a reason other than prescribed). We stratified models by occupational level (prescribers/healthcare administrators vs. other healthcare workers). RESULTS: Greater burnout was associated with higher odds of changes in prescribed psychotropic medication among prescribers/healthcare administrators (aOR = 1.23, 95% CI 1.01, 1.48), but not among other healthcare workers (aOR = 1.04, 95% CI 0.98, 1.10). Greater burnout was not associated with psychotropic medication misuse among prescribers/healthcare administrators (aOR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.82, 1.12) but was associated with increased odds of psychotropic medication misuse among other healthcare workers (aOR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.01, 1.14). CONCLUSIONS: Potential disparities in help-seeking and healthcare access might manifest in non-medical use of prescription drugs among some healthcare workers, which has implications for worker safety and well-being.

Moral injury and substance use among United States healthcare workers.

Moral injury (i.e., perpetrating, witnessing, failing to prevent, or being a victim of acts that transgress one's moral beliefs, values, or ethics) has largely been studied in military-connected populations and is associated with a range of adverse psychological sequelae. Emerging literature suggests that healthcare workers also experience moral injury, particularly in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is not known if moral injury contributes to substance use among healthcare workers or whether these effects might differ by gender, race/ethnicity, or occupational level. In March 2022, we collected self-reported pilot data from a diverse sample of US healthcare workers (N = 200) We examined the cross-sectional relationships between moral injury and several measures of substance use (i.e., current non-medical use of prescription drugs [NMUPD], current cannabis use, current use of other illicit drugs, and hazardous drinking) using separate logistic regression models. Next, we used separate interaction models to examine if any of these relations differed by gender, race/ethnicity, or occupational level. In main effects models, healthcare workers reporting greater moral injury had greater odds of current NMUPD (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.07; p < 0.001), current use of other illicit drugs (aOR = 1.09; p < 0.01), and hazardous drinking (aOR = 1.07; p < 0.01). These relations did not differ by race/ethnicity or occupational level (ps > 0.05); however, men were more likely to report current NMUPD and hazardous drinking (ps < 0.05) in the presence of high moral injury than women healthcare workers. Our findings suggest that healthcare workers experience substantial distress related to morally injurious events, which may affect their likelihood of NMUPD, cannabis use, use of other illicit drugs, and hazardous drinking, and that men in healthcare may be particularly at risk. Healthcare organizations should address systemic issues driving moral injury (e.g., resource shortages, lack of psychosocial support) to prevent substance-related harms among healthcare workers.