title: Workaholism: are physicians at risk?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Work addiction (WA), often called 'workaholism', is a relatively recent concept that has not yet been clearly defined. Ongoing studies have found prevalence rates that are highly variable due to the diversity of the models used and the populations studied.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the characteristics of WA among hospital medical staff.
  
  
  METHODS
  All physicians practising at a French university hospital were invited to participate in a survey based on two questionnaires: the Work Addiction Risk Test (WART) for WA and the Job Contents Questionnaire (JCQ) to assess psychosocial constraints at work.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 444 responding physicians. The response rate was 45%. Thirteen per cent of respondents were considered to be highly work addicted and a further 35% were considered mildly work addicted. Professors had the highest average WART score, but neither age nor sex was associated with WA. Furthermore, all 3D scores obtained using the JCQ correlated with the WART score; the highest correlation coefficient being obtained between the WART score and the job demands score, indicating that workaholics experienced high job demands.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  WA especially affects professors, who have the highest status amongst doctors in the hospital hierarchy. This study highlights the importance of constraints and workload, which are consistent with individual vulnerability factors. These factors may help identify ways of preventing and managing this type of addiction, through improvement of working conditions and organizational structures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Saint Nazaire Hospital, Saint Nazaire, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rezvani
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Nantes University Hospital, Nantes, France, EA 4275-SPHERE 'Biostatistics, Pharmacoepidemiology and Subjective Measures in Health Sciences', Nantes University, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bouju
authors.affiliation: Department of Addiction and Psychiatry, Nantes University Hospital, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Keriven-Dessomme
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Nantes University Hospital, Nantes, France, Department of Addiction and Psychiatry, Nantes University Hospital, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moret
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Nantes University Hospital, Nantes, France, EA 4275-SPHERE 'Biostatistics, Pharmacoepidemiology and Subjective Measures in Health Sciences', Nantes University, Nantes, France, marie.bronnec@chu-nantes.fr.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grall-Bronnec
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000523:psychology*; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Physicians; prevalence; psychosocial constraints; workaholism.