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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
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A B S T R A C T
Department of Anesthesia,
KingKhaled Eye Specialist Hospital,
2
King Faisal Specialist Hospital and
Research Centre, Riyadh, Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia, 1Department of
Psychiatry, College of Medicine,
Alexandria University, Egypt
INTRODUCTION
Anesthesia is a demanding occupation due to long working
hours, sustained vigilance, unpredictability of stressful
situation, fear of litigation, competence and production
pressure.[1] Fatigue encompasses a decreased ability to
perform physical work and/or cognitive functions. It can be
caused by excessive time spent on a task, circadian factors
and sleep deprivation. It also correlates with a persons
motivation and emotional status.[2]
Work-related stress can also occurs when coping with jobrelated stressor results in imbalance between the demands
made on an individual, and the individuals ability to
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DOI:
10.4103/1658-354X.84095
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Statistical analysis
Ophthalmologists
(n=50) (%)
Hospital employees
(n=50) (%)
Anesthesiologists
(n=50) (%)
P value
3 (6)
47 (94)
22 (44)
28(56)
10 (20)
40(80)
0.001
43 (86)
7 (14)
31 (62)
19 (38)
33 (66)
17 (34)
0.18
3 (6)
47 (94)
0 (0)
0 (0)
12 (24)
29 (58)
4 (14)
2 (4)
8 (16)
35 (70)
6 (12)
2 (2)
0 (0)
0 (0)
0 (0)
50 (100)
13 (26)
4 (8.3)
20 (40)
13 (26)
0 (0)
0 (0)
0 (0)
50 (100)
0.005
0.001
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Hospital employees
(n=50)
Anesthesiologists
(n=50)
P value
4.38 (3.1)*
4.37 (3.2)*
3.58 (2.5)*
2.75 (2.3)*
4.28 (2.8)*
5.12 (2.7)*
4.46 (3.3)*
2.94 (2.7)*
2.88 (2.4)*
5.10 (2.7)*
10.06 (5.0)
9.28 (5.2)
7.31 (4.7)
5.90 (4.3)
9.60 (5.2)
0.002
0.001
0.005
0.001
0.001
General fatigue
Physical fatigue
Reduced activity
Reduced motivation
Mental fatigue
Data expressed as a mean value (SD), *Against anesthesiologist. *P value <0.05 against anesthesiologist
DISCUSSION
Our study showed that work related exhaustion as total
and different subtypes together with mental stress were
significantly higher in anesthesiologists compared to the
other two studied groups. Most of the currently studied
anesthesiologists were significantly younger than the
ophthalmologists. This was supported by previous work
of Nyssan and Hansez who proved that age correlated
negatively with fatigue symptoms, in their study younger
anesthesiologists showed higher rate of fatigue compared
to their older colleagues.[8] A previous work on general
Norwegian population reported weak correlation between
age and fatigue.[9]
No statistically significant gender differences were seen
either in anesthesiologists or the other two studied groups.
On the contrary Lindfors and colleagues proved that
women had higher stress symptoms including exhaustion
than men.[10] Another study found female anesthesiologists
feeling higher task related stressors at their work. [11]
A previous study concerning Portuguese anesthesiologists
had pointed out the conflicts between home and work
responsibilities as a major source of stress.[12] Loge and
colleague showed a strong positive correlation between
women and fatigue in Norwegian population. [9] The
difference could be attributed to the difference in the
culture and to the instrument used.
Vol. 5, Issue 3, July-September 2011
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