Burnout among Residents: Prevalence and Predictors of Depersonalization, Emotional Exhaustion and Professional Unfulfillment among Resident Doctors in Canada.

BACKGROUND: Burnout in the medical profession has garnered a lot of attention over recent years. It has been reported across all specialties and all stages of medical education; however, resident doctors in particular are at risk for burnout throughout their years of training. This study was aimed at evaluating the prevalence and correlates of burnout among resident doctors in Alberta. METHODS: Through a descriptive cross-sectional study design, a self-administered questionnaire was used to gather data from resident doctors at two medical schools in Alberta, Canada. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used as the assessment tool. Chi-squared and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses were used. RESULTS: Overall burnout prevalence among residents was 58.2%, and for professional fulfilment index, it was 56.7% for work exhaustion and interpersonal disengagement and 83.5% for lack of professional fulfillment. Working more than 80 h/week (OR = 16.437; 95% CI: 2.059-131.225), being dissatisfied (OR = 22.28; 95% CI: 1.75-283.278) or being neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with a career in medicine (OR = 23.81; 95% CI: 4.89-115.86) were significantly associated with high depersonalization. Dissatisfaction with efficiency and resources (OR = 10.83; CI: 1.66-70.32) or being neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with a career in medicine (OR = 5.14; CI: 1.33-19.94) were significantly associated with high emotional exhaustion. Working more than 80 h/week (OR = 5.36; CI: 1.08-26.42) and somewhat agreeing that the residency program has enough strategies aimed at resident well-being in place (OR = 3.70; CI: 1.10-12.46) were significantly associated factors with high work exhaustion and interpersonal disengagement. A young age of residents (≤30 years) (OR = 0.044; CI: 0.004-0.445) was significantly associated with low professional fulfillment. CONCLUSION: Burnout is a serious occupational phenomenon that can degenerate into other conditions or disrupt one's professional performance. Significant correlates were associated with high rates of burnout. Leaders of medical schools and policymakers need to acknowledge, design, and implement various strategies capable of providing continuous effective mental health support to improve the psychological health of medical residents across Canada.

Text Messages in the Field of Mental Health: Rapid Review of the Reviews.

Background: While mental health problems constitute a worldwide concern contributing to the global rates of morbidity and mortality, conventional mental healthcare services do not meet the current needs. Text messages (TM) represent a live model that incorporates technology into health services, spanning a large number of health conditions and playing different roles that may support the current healthcare system. Objective: To examine the TM services in the field of mental health, regarding their effectiveness, feasibility, acceptability, and economic evaluation in different contexts of mental health diagnoses and during critical times, when provided to individuals with mental health symptoms/disorders. Methods: This rapid review was conducted through an online search in PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, and Medline databases. The review targeted the review studies which examined online or mobile addiction and mental health services, utilizing TM services. The search was run from the inception up to September 30, 2021. Results: Sixty review articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. All reviews were published over the last decade. The results showed that people of a young age were fairly represented, and most reviews were run over substance use disorders (SUD), including Alcohol. Most reviews examined the effectiveness outcomes of the texting service, while to a lesser extent the acceptability and feasibility, among others. Texting services were reported as effective in psychotic disorders and SUD. However, the results related to depression and anxiety were mixed. Most reviews reported a considerably high risk of bias among their included studies. High satisfaction and acceptability of the texting services were reported for patients with various mental health conditions, including those with severe mental illness. Conclusions: This rapid review highlighted the applications, usability, benefits, and satisfaction with the TM in the field of mental health. For a higher quality of evidence, future studies should consider TM interventions in the contexts with mixed results or a dearth of literature, and during critical times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Policy- and decision-makers, therefore, need to further support text-based services with guided investments in interventions that were evidenced to be accepted, economic and feasible.

The Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Physicians, Nurses, and Other Health Care Providers in Alberta: Cross-sectional Survey.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, threats to mental health, psychological safety, and well-being are evident, particularly among the first responders and the health care staff. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the prevalence and potential predictors of the likely stress, generalized anxiety disorder, and major depressive disorder among health care workers (HCWs). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was used through a survey link sent to gather demographic information and responses on several self-report scales, including the Perceived Stress Scale, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 among HCWs enrolled in the Text4Hope program. RESULTS: The result from this study suggests that during the COVID-19 pandemic, HCWs reported a high likelihood of moderate-to-high perceived stress (n=840, 81.2%), moderate-to-severe anxiety (n=369, 38.6%), and depression (n=317, 32.7%) symptoms. Nurses and other HCWs were significantly more likely to report depressive symptoms compared to physicians (F(2, 159.47)=15.89, 95% CI -5.05 to -2.04). Younger age groups of HCWs (≤30 years) were more prone to report likely stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms compared to HCWs 41-50 and >50 years old (odds ratio [OR] 1.82-3.03). Similarly, females and those who reported a lack of social support (separated/divorced and single) among HCWs had a higher likelihood to report likely stress and depressive symptoms, respectively (OR 1.8 and 1.6, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This cross-sectional study explored a high level of mental health burdens during the COVID-19 pandemic among HCWs in Alberta. Levels of psychological symptoms were more noticeable in the female gender and the nursing profession.