J Korean Surg Soc.  2013 May;84(5):261-266.

Analysis of the occupational stress of Korean surgeons: a pilot study

• Kang SH
• Boo YJ
• Lee JS
• Ji WB
• Yoo BE
• You JY

Abstract

PURPOSE
Surgeons serve one of the most challenging and stressful professions. Ineffective control of occupational stress leads to burnout of the surgeon. The aim of this study was to obtain preliminary data on the sources and the degree of stress of surgeons and to determine the feasibility of the survey.
METHODS
A total of 63 surgeons in our three affiliated hospitals were enrolled in this study. Fifty-five questions were used to assess the demographics, characteristics and Korean occupational stress scale (KOSS), which were prepared and validated by the National Study for Development and Standardization of Occupational Stress.
RESULTS
Forty-seven of the 63 surgeons participated in this study (74.6%). The mean KOSS score of the survey was 50.9 +/- 8.55, which was significantly higher than that of other professions (P < 0.01). Drinking and smoking habits were not related to the KOSS score. Doing exercise was related to a low KOSS score in terms of low KOSS total score (P < 0.01). Average duty hours (P < 0.01) and night duty days per week (P = 0.01) were strongly related to higher KOSS in the linear regression analysis.
CONCLUSION
This is the first study to evaluate job stress of surgeons in Korea. This study showed that Korean Surgeons had higher occupational stress than other Korean professions. A larger study based on this pilot study will help generate objective data for occupational stress of Korean Surgeons by performing a survey of the members of the Korean Surgical Society.

Keyword

Occupational stress; Surgeon; Workload; Korean occupational stress scale (KOSS)

MeSH Terms

Demography
Drinking
Korea
Linear Models
Pilot Projects
Smoke
Smoking
Smoke

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Comparison Korean occupational stress scale (KOSS) of surgeons with other professions: one asterisk indicates statistical significance (*P<0.05).

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  Fig. 2 Relation of Korean occupational stress scale with gender.

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  Fig. 3 Relation of Korean occupational stress scale with position: one asterisk indicates statistical significance (*P<0.05).

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  Fig. 4 Relation of Korean occupational stress scale with hobby (A) and exercise (B): one asterisk indicates statistical significance (*P<0.05).

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  Fig. 5 Linear regression analysis of average duty hours (A) and duty days (B) per week. KOSS, Korean occupational stress scale.

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