Occupational Stress and Coping Strategies amongst Nigerian Physician Anaesthetists in Training

Abstract

Background: The environment of a healthcare setting can stimulate or impose stress on health personnel, and this can impact health delivery  services. This study was carried out to assess the types of stress encountered by trainee anaesthetists and their effects on the trainees.
Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional survey amongst 76 trainee anaesthetists who attended an update course at the Department of  Anaesthesia, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria in 2019. A self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain data which was analyzed  using IBM SPSS (version 23.0®). Variables were presented using frequency tables, pie chart, and graph. Level of significance was set at 5%.
Results: Most (90.8%) of the participants were >30 years and predominantly (75%) males. Majority 71 (93.4%) were junior registrars, the rest were  senior registrars 5(6.6%). Stress was reported in 73 (96.1%) respondents; 68 (93.2%) junior registrars and 5 (6.8%) senior registrars. The most  reported stress type was physical stress by 45 (61.7%) trainees and the most common cause of stress was due to the vast syllabus 32 (43.8%). Statistical correlations were found between age and stress development (p=0.021), daily work duration and designation (p=0.018), and gender with  accommodating demands of anaesthesia training (p=0.014). Forty-five (59.2%) respondents reported difficulty coping with the demands of  anaesthesia training, 33 (73.3%) required psychosocial adjustments, 7 (15.6%) required counseling, while 5 (11.1%) went into depression of which, 3  (60.0%) required a psychiatrist's evaluation.
Conclusion: A high percentage of trainee anaesthetists reported experiencing occupational stress as a result of physical demands during training  from the vast syllabus and daily work duration. Many trainees had difficulty coping with the demands of anaesthesia residency. Coping mechanisms employed include psychosocial adjustments and counseling, while a few required psychiatric evaluation.