Stress among Indian general practitioners in the greater Durban area.

Abstract

Research on stress factors among General Practitioners in relation to burnout is limited. In view of the clinical impression that stress is becoming more prevalent amongst Indian General Practitioners in urban areas, a study was planned to investigate the demographic variables, stress factors in practice and burnout among Indian General Practitioners in the Greater Durban Area. The research design involved the analysis of data on demographic variables, stress factors in practice and burnout. This data was obtained from a sample of 106 Indian General Practitioners in the Greater Durban Area. Informed consent was obtained by a letter that was sent to the General Practitioners. A Demographic Inventory, a 4 item Stress of Practice Questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered by a postal questionnaire. The analysis of the scores obtained from the Stress of Practice Questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory provided the following findings: 1. The stress of practice - 6 factors were identified of which 3 were related to demands of the job, work: home interface and workload. 2. The Indian General Practitioners experienced a low to moderate degree of burnout. 3. The correlation of stress factors and Maslach Burnout Inventory subscales were weak. 4. For emotional exhaustion - dimensions of frequency and intensity, some of the stress related factors explained a fair amount of variation but the relationship was not strong. These findings lend themselves to further research in this field and have significant therapeutic implications for both practitioner and their patients.