Stress percepito e rischio burnout nei pediatri di famiglia

Background. In recent years, burnout (work-related stress) in the medical field has proved to be a growing phenomenon. Overall, one-third of medical staff, including paediatricians, suffers from it. Unlike other medical specialties, there are few studies on the extent of this phenomenon within the paediatric field in general, and particularly among primary care paediatricians.
Objectives and Methods. In this study the prevalence of stress in a sample of 100 primary care paediatricians operating in the Lombardy Region was evaluated. Participation was anonymous, following the acquisition of the participant's informed consent, in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki. According to the current Italian legislation for anonymous non-interventional surveys, ethical committee approval was not required. The completion of the questionnaire, including the validated Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), took place online and required an average of 10 minutes.
Results. The overall mean PSS score across all items was found to be 18.48, a value falling within the medium-to-high range of perceived stress; overall, the values obtained are comparable to those reported in the literature.
Conclusions. The psychophysical health status of the paediatric staff within the National Health Service is to be evaluated by monitoring work-related stress. Therefore, given the sensitive nature of the work performed, medical institutions should periodically monitor the degree of work-related stress of their employees, both to safeguard staff well-being and to guarantee the quality and efficiency of the service provided.