TY - JOUR
T1 - Tackling the Pandemic a Year Later
T2 - Burnout Among Home Palliative Care Clinicians
AU - Ercolani, Giacomo
AU - Varani, Silvia
AU - Ostan, Rita
AU - Franchini, Luca
AU - Yaaqovy, Ahikam David
AU - Pannuti, Raffaella
AU - Biasco, Guido
AU - Bruera, Eduardo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - Context: The COVID-19 pandemic strongly challenged healthcare workers, disrupting their work routine and impacting on their professional life. A previous investigation explored levels of burnout and psychological morbidity among palliative care professionals (PCPs) during COVID-19 first wave. Objective: To update data about burnout and psychological morbidity among PCPs after a year of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The same questionnaires on burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory, MBI) and psychological morbidity (General Health Questionnaire 12 items, GHQ-12) were administered a year after. Differences in MBI and GHQ-12 scores obtained in the two studies (COVID2020 and COVID2021), as well as distributions of PCPs showing burnout symptoms and psychological morbidity were analyzed and compared. We also explored the association between the three dimensions of burnout and socio-demographic and professional characteristics. Results: The sample consisted of 145 PCPs (59% physicians and 41% nurses). Response rate (70.4%) was quite similar to the previous study (73.2%). No differences were observed in the frequency of burnout between COVID2021 and COVID2020; the PCPs in COVID2021 reported marginally higher level of EE (P = .049) and this result is confirmed in physicians (P = .010) while no difference was observed in nurses (P = .326). In addition, the percentage of cases showing psychological morbidity significantly decreased. Conclusion: Our findings show stable levels of burnout and decreasing levels of psychological morbidity among PCPs one year after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, more research is needed to detail the significance of emotional exhaustion dimension, a variable influenced by the survey.
AB - Context: The COVID-19 pandemic strongly challenged healthcare workers, disrupting their work routine and impacting on their professional life. A previous investigation explored levels of burnout and psychological morbidity among palliative care professionals (PCPs) during COVID-19 first wave. Objective: To update data about burnout and psychological morbidity among PCPs after a year of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The same questionnaires on burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory, MBI) and psychological morbidity (General Health Questionnaire 12 items, GHQ-12) were administered a year after. Differences in MBI and GHQ-12 scores obtained in the two studies (COVID2020 and COVID2021), as well as distributions of PCPs showing burnout symptoms and psychological morbidity were analyzed and compared. We also explored the association between the three dimensions of burnout and socio-demographic and professional characteristics. Results: The sample consisted of 145 PCPs (59% physicians and 41% nurses). Response rate (70.4%) was quite similar to the previous study (73.2%). No differences were observed in the frequency of burnout between COVID2021 and COVID2020; the PCPs in COVID2021 reported marginally higher level of EE (P = .049) and this result is confirmed in physicians (P = .010) while no difference was observed in nurses (P = .326). In addition, the percentage of cases showing psychological morbidity significantly decreased. Conclusion: Our findings show stable levels of burnout and decreasing levels of psychological morbidity among PCPs one year after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, more research is needed to detail the significance of emotional exhaustion dimension, a variable influenced by the survey.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Cancer
KW - burnout
KW - palliative care
KW - pandemics
KW - psychological distress
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.12.027
DO - 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.12.027
M3 - Article
C2 - 34973353
AN - SCOPUS:85123685629
SN - 0885-3924
VL - 63
SP - e349-e356
JO - Journal of pain and symptom management
JF - Journal of pain and symptom management
IS - 4
ER -