Stress among medical doctors working in public hospitals of the Ngaka Modiri Molema district (Mafikeng health region), North West province, South Africa

South African Journal of Psychiatry

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Stress among medical doctors working in public hospitals of the Ngaka Modiri Molema district (Mafikeng health region), North West province, South Africa
 
Creator Govender, I Mutunzi, E Okonta, H I
 
Subject Psychology, Family Medicine Stress, General Practitioners —
Description Introduction. Stress and burnout are common among healthcare professionals, including doctors and nurses. Work-related stress rates among the general working population average 18%, while among doctors the rate is reported to be around 28%. Stress in doctors can result in multiple negative consequences. Detecting stress early may have positive outcomes for doctors, their families and the patients they care for. There is growing concern about stress in doctors working in public hospitals, yet there is a paucity of studies on stress among these doctors in South Africa.Methods. A cross-sectional, descriptive study using a self-administered, standardised questionnaire (12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12)) was conducted among medical doctors working in four hospitals of the Ngaka Modiri Molema (NMM) district, North West province. The research questionnaire was distributed and returned anonymously to ensure confidentiality.Results. Of the 67 doctors in the study, 34 (51%) were found to be stressed; 18 (27%) of the participants were highly stressed (morbidly stressed). This result was compared with figures obtained by Govender in an earlier study conducted among private general practitioners in KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal, in which 38% were stressed according to the GHQ-12; 23% of the subjects were morbidly stressed.Conclusion. The rate of stress among doctors working in the four hospitals of the NMM district is higher than that found in other studies, which report a stress prevalence of 28 - 38% among doctors.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2012-05-01
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Cross sectional descriptive study
Format application/pdf text/html
Identifier 10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v18i2.337
 
Source South African Journal of Psychiatry; Vol 18, No 2 (2012); 5 2078-6786 1608-9685
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/337/302 https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/337/303
 
Coverage South Africa — Doctors
Rights Copyright (c) 2012 I Govender, E Mutunzi, H I Okonta https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT