ArticleBMJ open2017
What's up doc? A national cross-sectional study of psychological wellbeing of hospital doctors in Ireland.
Article in BMJ open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The global prevalence of depression and anxiety among doctors during the covid-19 pandemic: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Some of us are most at risk: Systematic review and meta-analysis of correlates of depressive symptoms among healthcare workers during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2021Pooled it
- A cluster randomised crossover trial of single resilience and professionalism tutorials among undergraduate medical students.Medical education online · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Work preferences and motivations of young general practitioners in Switzerland: findings from a cross-sectional survey of the Swiss Young General Practitioners Association (JHaS).BMC primary care · 2026Article
- 'I would have blamed myself, but coming back, I can see that it wasn't me': A qualitative, descriptive phenomenological analysis of doctors' reflective processes in recovery from burnout and mental crisis.Journal of health psychology · 2026Article
- Role of nurses in moderating the emotional dynamics in the clinical learning environments: Implications for medical students' experience.Medical education · 2025Article
- Physician wellbeing in a national rehabilitation hospital, a qualitative study utilizing Maslow's hierarchy of needs as a framework for analysis.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- How do they cope? A national cross-sectional study of coping in hospital doctors in Ireland.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Article
- Perceptions of healthcare professionals' psychological wellbeing at work and the link to patients' experiences of care: A scoping review.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2023Article
- Dublin hospital workers' mental health during the peak of Ireland's COVID-19 pandemic.Irish journal of medical science · 2023Article
- What alleviates depression among medical workers in emergency risk events? The function of subjective social status.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Association between hours of work and subjective well-being. How do physicians compare to lawyers and accountants?PloS one · 2023Article
- What is well-being? A scoping review of the conceptual and operational definitions of occupational well-being.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2023Article
- The Effect of Perceived Stress, Family Companionship, and Mental Health on the Subjective Happiness of Chinese Healthcare Workers: A Mixed Research Method.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The Status of Occupational Stress and Its Influence on the Health of Medical Staff in Lanzhou, China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Article
- Hospital physicians´ working hour characteristics and sleep quality: a cross-sectional analysis of realized working hour and survey data.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Junior doctors' mental health and coronavirus disease safety concerns.Australian and New Zealand journal of public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo measure levels of psychological distress, psychological wellbeing and self-stigma in hospital doctors in Ireland.
designNational cross-sectional study of randomised sample of hospital doctors. Participants provided sociodemographic data (age, sex, marital status), work grade (consultant, higher/basic specialist trainee), specialty and work hours and completed well-being questionnaires (the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, WHO Well-being Index, General Health Questionnaire) and single-item scales on self-rated health and self-stigma.
settingIrish publicly funded hospitals and residential institutions.
participants1749 doctors (response rate of 55%). All hospital specialties were represented except radiology.
resultsHalf of participants were men (50.5%). Mean hours worked per week were 57 hours. Over half (52%) rated their health as very good/excellent, while 50.5% reported positive subjective well-being (WHO-5). Over a third (35%) experienced psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire 12). Severe/extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress were evident in 7.2%, 6.1% and 9.5% of participants (Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale 21). Symptoms of distress, depression, anxiety and stress were significantly higher and levels of well-being were significantly lower in trainees compared with consultants, and this was not accounted for by differences in sociodemographic variables. Self-stigma was present in 68.4%.
conclusionsThe work hours of doctors working in Irish hospitals were in excess of European Working Time Directive's requirements. Just over half of hospital doctors in Ireland had positive well-being. Compared with international evidence, they had higher levels of psychological distress but slightly lower symptoms of depression and anxiety. Two-thirds of respondents reported self-stigma, which is likely to be a barrier to accessing care. These findings have implications for the design of support services for doctors, for discussions on quality of patient care and for future research.
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