Prevalence and Factors Associated with Burnout Syndrome in Colombian Anesthesiologists.

BACKGROUND: Burnout is characterized by the presence of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment, and manifests itself in difficulties in the handling of the psychological aspects of personal relationships with patients, by taking a negative attitude toward them. The objective was to evaluate the associated factors and describe the prevalence of burnout in Colombian anesthesiologists. METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study. The classification of burnout was carried out using two criteria: the first related to high emotional exhaustion, accompanied by either high depersonalization or low personal accomplishment; the second associated with high emotional exhaustion in conjunction with both high depersonalization and low personal accomplishment. The prevalence and the variables associated with the presence of Burnout were described according to each criterion. RESULTS: 19.2% of the respondents were categorized as having burnout according to the first criterion and 9.2% according to the second criterion. The results are consistent regardless of the criterion used to define burnout; the associated factors were the presence of depression, anxiety, the degree of satisfaction with the profession, more than 200 hours worked per month and being an at-risk drinker. Anxiety was found to be associated with increased risk of both criteria 1 and 2 burnout. CONCLUSIONS: In line with other studies, the prevalence of burnout among Colombian anesthesiologists varies depending on the burnout criteria. However, a strong correlation was noted with depression, anxiety, low satisfaction with professional career and high number of working hours per month.

[Prevalence of Mood and Anxiety Disorders on People with Chronic Conditions. Results from the National Mental Health Survey in Colombia 2015]. / Prevalencia de trastornos del afecto y de ansiedad en personas con condiciones crónicas. Resultado de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud Mental Colombia 2015.

INTRODUCTION: The study of mental disorders in people with chronic conditions recognises the importance of actively seeking and treating both, since chronic conditions have a higher prevalence than mental disorders and their comorbidity generates greater burden than if each one was considered separately. OBJECTIVES: To measure the prevalence of mood disorders and anxiety in a Colombian population of 12 years and older and with and without different chronic conditions. METHODS: The information is taken from the National Mental Health Survey 2015 in Colombia, which was an observational cross-sectional study with national representativeness for the age groups measured 12-17, 18-44, and 45 and older. Disorders measured where mood disorders and anxiety social phobia, generalised anxiety disorder, and panic disorder in the past 12 months, and several chronic conditions. Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed for these conditions. RESULTS: The highest prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders were found in people with gastrointestinal diseases, followed by those with chronic pain, heart, and lung diseases, which corresponded to 27.1%, 13.3%, 12.2%, and 11.5%, respectively, in those between 18 and 44 years old, and 15.9%, 12.2%, 8.0%, and 7.4% of those 45 and older, respectively. This was greater than the prevalence of these mental disorders in people with no chronic condition, where the prevalence is 3.5% in the younger, and 1.1% in the older group. However, the risk of these mental disorders is higher in older people. Thus, in those with gastrointestinal diseases when compared to people of the same age without any chronic condition the prevalence is 14.9 times higher, but for the same disease in the younger group it is 7.8. CONCLUSIONS: These findings link chronic conditions with a higher prevalence of mental disorders, which in the present study also highlights the greater comorbidity of mood and anxiety disorders in the elderly.

[The Recognition of Emotions, Empathy and Moral Judgment in the National Mental Health Survey in Colombia, 2015]. / El reconocimiento de emociones, la empatía y los juicios morales en la Encuesta Nacional de Salud Mental (ENSM) de 2015 en Colombia.

BACKGROUND: Social cognition refers to the mental processes involved in social interactions. Different aspects, such as the perception of others, self-knowledge, motivation and the cultural context, can modulate empathy responses and moral judgments regarding the actions of others. The National Mental Health Survey (ENSM for its acronym in Spanish) explored aspects of social cognition such as the perception of emotions, empathy and moral judgment in situations in which another person experiences pain. OBJECTIVE: To describe the overall findings of the ENSM in relation to the emotional perception and empathic responses to situations where pain is inflicted on others in an intentional or accidental manner. METHODS: A total of 3863 people aged 18-96 years old completed the social cognition module. They were asked to identify the emotions expressed in the images of several faces. A modified version of the awareness of social inference test (TASIT) was used. Additionally, the cognitive, affective, and moral elements of empathy were assessed with a modified version of the empathy for pain task (EPT), which uses a sequence of images in which someone is being hurt. RESULTS: Happiness was identified by 91.5% of those interviewed; neutral or emotionless faces were identified by 65%; 55% of respondents correctly identified surprise. Only 19.7%, 21.8% and 27.4% could identify negative emotions like fear, disgust and sadness, respectively. When the data were analysed by age, poverty status, and different regions of the country, the results tend to vary. As regards empathy, 73.7% correctly identified intentional actions, and accidental actions were identified by 56.6%. According to the moral judgment of some respondents, even in situations where the pain was caused by accident, there must be some kind of punishment (20.7% deserved a low punishment and 26.8% a moderate one). CONCLUSIONS: Noteworthy findings include the high recognition of happiness by the respondents, in contrast to the apparent difficulty in recognising sadness, and paradoxical results regarding punishment and empathy. This should be studied in greater detail, but these results can contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex Colombian social context.

[Mental Imagery: Neurophysiology and Implications in Psychiatry]. / Imaginería mental: neurofisiología e implicaciones en psiquiatría.

OBJECTIVE: To provide an explanation about what mental imagery is and some implications in psychiatry. METHODS: This article is a narrative literature review. RESULTS: There are many terms in which imagery representations are described in different fields of research. They are defined as perceptions in the absence of an external stimulus, and can be created in any sensory modality. Their neurophysiological substrate is almost the same as the one activated during sensory perception. There is no unified theory about its function, but it is possibly the way that our brain uses and manipulates the information to respond to the environment. CONCLUSIONS: Mental imagery is an everyday phenomenon, and when it occurs in specific patterns it can be a sign of mental disorders.