Study of anxiety and job burnout, and awareness among young anesthetists during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

To describe the psychological impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on young doctors and their job burnout in the Department of Anesthesiology during the initial days of the pandemic and examine their awareness and familiarity with this pneumonia. We conducted a cross-sectional study in West China Hospital in February 2020. A self-designed questionnaire was sent to all young doctors working in the department of anesthesiology. Impact of Event Scale-Revised and Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey were used to evaluate the psychological impact and degree of job burnout. Another questionnaire was conducted to explore the awareness and familiarity of COVID-19. All participants were divided into five groups according to the time of clinical practice: Postgraduate year (PGY) 0.5 (less than 0.5 year), 0.6–1 (0.6–1 year), 1–2 (1–2 years), 2–3 (2–3 years), 3 (more than 3 years) groups. The results were collected and analyzed subsequently. A total of 188 questionnaires were collected. There were significant differences in distress level between PGY 0.5 and PGY 0.6–1 (17.60 ± 12.53 vs. 12.05 ± 10.65; p = 0.029), and PGY 3 and PGY 0.6–1 (19.92 ± 11.88 vs. 12.05 ± 10.65; p = 0.031). As for job burnout, there were no differences among the five subgroups. Most participants (86.70%) were kept in good working condition, and 25 participants showed a mild level of job burnout. Although all of the respondents had high awareness of the basic elements of COVID-19, they had little knowledge about the details, such as lab tests, release criteria, and recommended therapy, and this result had no significant difference among the five groups. COVID-19 had caused a mild level of distress and work burnout in young anesthetists. Most of the participants were not clear about the diagnostic, release criteria, and therapeutic method, which will become key teaching points in the future.