Background:
Stress and exposure to work stress factors among general practitioners (GPs) are frequent and major issues, as chronic work stress may decrease mental or physical health and also potentially affect GP patient care quality. Little is known about the perception of stress and the factors associated with stress among Swiss GPs.
Methods:
This secondary analysis focuses on selected questions of the Swiss QUALIPOPC study, a multinational effort investigating primary care in its globality in order to inform and help governments with their primary health care system. A total of 199 GPs in Switzerland were asked, using a postal questionnaire, whether they felt stressed, and about five work stress factors associated with stress. Bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to identify socio-demographic and practice characteristics associated with these factors.
Results:
Half of the GPs (48.5%) reported their work to be stressful. Although the vast majority of them (97%) were interested by their work, 80% complained about administrative overload, 33% about effort-reward imbalance, 35% about a lack of sense in their work and 30% about a lack of respect of their profession. The number of complaints averaged 1.8 out of 5. GP age was inversely associated with stress and positively associated with respect, and non-Swiss German speaking GPs complained more about effort-reward imbalance. Delays in GP reception of patient hospital discharge information was strongly associated with work stress factors. However, no effect of sex, organization of practice (solo versus group) or location (rural versus urban) on these variables was observed.
Conclusion
Stress perception is common among GPs in Switzerland, particularly within the non-Swiss German speaking and the younger age group. Exposure to work stress factors is frequent. Awareness of this condition shall help target these populations for education and prevention, and adopt better practices, particularly by reducing delays to reception of discharge information.