title: Psychological distress, burnout and personality traits in Dutch anaesthesiologists: A survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The practice of anaesthesia comes with stress. If the demands of a stressful job exceed the resources of an individual, that person may develop burnout. Burnout poses a threat to the mental and physical health of the anaesthesiologist and therefore also to patient safety.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Individual differences in stress appraisal (perceived demands) are an important factor in the risk of developing burnout. To explore this possible relationship, we assessed the prevalence of psychological distress and burnout in the Dutch anaesthesiologist population and investigated the influence of personality traits.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survey study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected in the Netherlands from July 2012 until December 2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  We sent electronic surveys to all 1955 practising resident and consultant members of the Dutch Anaesthesia Society. Of these, 655 (33.5%) were returned and could be used for analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Psychological distress, burnout and general personality traits were assessed using validated Dutch versions of the General Health Questionnaire (cut-off point ≥2), the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Big Five Inventory. Sociodemographic variables and personality traits were entered into regression models as predictors for burnout and psychological distress.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Respectively, psychological distress and burnout were prevalent in 39.4 and 18% of all respondents. The prevalence of burnout was significantly different in resident and consultant anaesthesiologists: 11.3% vs. 19.8% (χ 5.4; P < 0.02). The most important personality trait influencing psychological distress and burnout was neuroticism: adjusted odds ratio 6.22 (95% confidence interval 4.35 to 8.90) and 6.40 (95% confidence interval 3.98 to 10.3), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study show that psychological distress and burnout have a high prevalence in residents and consultant anaesthesiologists and that both are strongly related to personality traits, especially the trait of neuroticism. This suggests that strategies to address the problem of burnout would do well to focus on competence in coping skills and staying resilient. Personality traits could be taken into consideration during the selection of residents. In future longitudinal studies the question of how personal and situational factors interact in the development of burnout should be addressed.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Anaesthesiology, Pain and Palliative Medicine (RABVDW, MJLB, G-JS); Radboud Institute for Health Sciences (JCMH); and Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands (JBP).
authors.forename: Raymond A B
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: van der Wal
authors.forename: Martin J L
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bucx
authors.forename: Jan C M
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hendriks
authors.forename: Gert-Jan
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Scheffer
authors.forename: Judith B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Prins
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000776:Anesthesiology; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010551:Personality; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires