The quality of life of anaesthetists in a department of anarsthesiology

Abstract

Background The measure of quality of life ( QOL) for an individual has emerged as an important marker of health. The aim of the study was to describe the QOL of anaesthetists in the Department of Anaesthesiology at the University of the Witwatersrand. Methods A prospective, descriptive contextual research design was used for this study. An adjusted 30 question, self-administered questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) was distributed during departmental academic meetings and returned anonymously. Results One hundred and twenty five questionnaires were completed with a sample realisation of 83.3%, representing 60.1% of anaesthetists in the department. The overall scores for each domain were physical (67.9), psychological (61.2), social relationship (65.5) and environmental domian (63.6), with 60.5% of anaesthetists reporting being pleased or extremely pleased with their health, whilst 76.0% of the anaesthetist reported a good or very good QOL. Registrars scored significantly lower (p=0.0008) in the physical domain compared to medical officers and consultants. Medical officers scored significantly lower in the psychological domain (p=0.0371) when compared to consultants. Junior anaesthetists scored significantly lower in the physical (p=0.0003) and psychological (p=0.0104) domains than senior anaesthetists. Female anaesthetists scored significantly lower in the physical domain (p=0.0159) than males. Conclusion This study demontrates that anaesthetists in the department have QOL similar to medical doctors in similar studies. Junior anaesthetists have lower physical and psychological domain scores than senior anaesthetists. Female anaesthetists have lower physical domain QOL than males.