Physicians suffer from higher levels of stress

According to the Sana’a University’s study on physicians and stress, a first of its kind in Yemen, the majority of working physicians are suffering from physical and psychological symptoms of stress.

The study just included 405 Yemeni physicians who are working in various public teaching hospitals in Sana’a, the al-Thawra, al-Gumhuori, al-Sab’een, and al-Kuwait, where there are approximately 1,143 physicians working in different fields and specialties. The study aimed to elucidate the problems of work stress among Yemeni physicians from different organizational, occupational and social dimensions. “We hope this study will help to improve the work environment through identifying sources of stress,” said Shima Ghanem, one of the researchers.

This study came out at the same time as when a statement was released by the Minister of Public Health and Population, saying that the coverage of health services and fortification rate has improved notably in Yemen to 78 percent from 56 percent in the past few years, which has helped to reduce infant mortality rates. 

The minster of health, Dr. Abdul-Karim Ras’e, also confirmed that the mortality rate of under five-year-old children has decreased from 100 to 78 cases for every 1,000 live births. A complementary campaign was implemented against polio in 122 districts to be a step of announcing Yemen free of polio in 2009, Dr. Ras’e said. The campaign covered around 97 percent of children under five years, including 1,356,500 children at a cost of YR360 million.

Also, a health system program, which is based on integrating primary health-care services, was recently launched in 64 districts in 17 governorates aiming to reach 35 percent of citizens at cost of YR1.2 trillion.

All these recent improvements in health and health-care in Yemen have come at a great cost for to the providers of it. As the Yemen’s health increases, so does the stress levels of doctors. 

Stress is a term that refers to sum of physical mental emotional strains or tensions on a person or feelings of stress which result from interactions between people and their environment that are perceived as straining or exceeding their adaptive capacities and threatening their well being. The elements of perception indicate the human stress responses reflect differences in personality as well as differences in physical strength or health.

Stress is a precarious problem among physicians which is reflected on individual behavior by the quality of their work. Stress has a wide psychological and physical effect as cardiovascular, musculoskeletal systems, headache, gastrointestinal problems, sleep disturbance and depression.

The study showed that many physicians are suffering from stress physical symptoms such as feeling tired or exhausted, back pain and upset of stomach or heartburn. Difficulty getting up in the morning, difficulty concentrating or easily distracted and nervous habits like tapping fingers are some symptoms of psychological stress affecting physicians. 

“Doctors have found different sources of stress on individuals during clinical training and later on work practice,” Ghanem said. All of this has encouraged the researches to study the causes and outcomes of occupational stress. The new studies indicate that the problem gradually increases, perhaps due to the rapid changes in health organization and rapid development of science and technology in different medical field.

Not only physicians, but high stress levels are also found among other health care workers. A study by Statistics Canada found that nearly half of all health care providers suffer from a high degree of stress at work. Nurses, doctors and lab technicians reported the highest levels. 

The most helpful method of dealing with stress is learning how to manage the stress that comes along with any new challenge, whether good or bad. Stress-management skills work best when used regularly, not just when the pressure is on. 

It was found that consultative doctors have a lot of experience to deal with stress sources, and they are more able to deal with the different difficulties which are connected to their medical career.

Physicians who are qualified to give anesthetics to patients, usually during surgeries, and other ones who are suddenly needed in the emergency sites to save patients’ lives, are more prone to high stress resulting from their work load.

Researchers found a strong relationship between stress and financial state since psychologists and ophthalmologists are always complaining of high stress caused by their low salary. The income of Yemeni physicians ranges between YR 19,000 and YR 340,000. According to the study, only six percent said that this salary is enough for saving. 

Single physicians tend to be more stressed than married ones. Researchers can conclude that marriage can offer the psychological stability which help doctors to carry work difficulties. The study also revealed that gender plays a very important role in causing stress since it is found higher in female physicians.

The results of the study recommend acquiring and training medical specialists and allowing them more opportunities to acquire new skills, all which could help them to overcome work stress. Stress can also be reduced by securing a healthy environment for physicians and providing them with adequate social, economical and psychological needs, as well as by providing good salaries for physicians so they can perform their jobs to their best capability.

Because female physicians are increasing in number and are more vulnerable to work stress, a designed and suitable strategy to encourage them should be implemented to minimize their work stress, the study recommended.

There should be also a change in administration to open new paths for physicians, encouraging them to do their best, according to the study supervised by Dr. Abdul-Wahid al-Serouri and Dr. Saif al-Merri.

The study was conducted by a group of female researchers in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Sana’a University: Asma Thabet, Eshrak al-Shaibani, Amaal al-Khulani, Amat-Alsalam al-Afif, Basma al- Sharmani, Shima Ghanem and Maryam al-Alawi. 

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