[Burnout syndrome of human services professionals--doctors, nurses, caregivers, teachers and clerks (1). Maslach Burnout Inventory: factor structures for samples of human services professionals, and its relation with Zung's Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS)]

The Personality and Psychological Stress Predict Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Five Years

To investigate the effects of personality type and psychological stress on the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) at 5 years in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Two hundred twenty patients with stable angina (SA) or non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) treated with PCI completed type A behavioral questionnaire, type D personality questionnaire, Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Trait Coping Style Questionnaire (TCSQ), and Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) at 3 days after PCI operation. Meanwhile, biomedical markers (cTnI, CK-MB, LDH, LDH1) were assayed. MACEs were monitored over a 5-year follow-up. NSTE-ACS group had higher ratio of type A behavior, type A/D behavior, and higher single factor scores of type A personality and type D personality than control group and SAP group. NSTE-ACS patients had more anxiety, depression, lower level of mental health (P < 0.05; P < 0.01), more negative coping styles and less positive coping styles. The plasma levels of biomedical predictors had positive relation with anxiety, depression, and lower level of mental health. Type D patients were at a cumulative increased risk of adverse outcome compared with non-type D patients (P < 0.05). Patients treated with PCI were more likely to have type A and type D personality and this tendency was associated with myocardial injury. They also had obvious anxiety, depression emotion, and lower level of mental health, which were related to personality and coping style. Type D personality was an independent predictor of adverse events.

Communication skills training for Japanese oncologists on how to break bad news

BACKGROUND

Despite significant communication gaps between patients and physicians, there has been little effort to initiate and evaluate teaching programs. We investigated whether a communication skills training (CST) could be effectively conducted for Japanese oncologists.

METHODS

Fifty-eight oncologists participated in the CST. We evaluated the program by measuring participant-rated confidence for communication with patients, burnout, and satisfaction of participants.

RESULTS

Immediately and at 3 months after CST, confidence in communication increased significantly compared with before. The providers' emotional-exhaustion 3 months after the workshop, however, worsened. The participants' satisfaction level with the program was high.

CONCLUSIONS

The CST is feasible for Japanese oncologists, but it needs to be modified to reduce emotional-exhaustion.

[Mental health and stress coping among hospital nurses by stress & stress-coping questionnaire]

This study was aimed to evaluate the relationship between the mental health level and stress coping style in a group of female subjects in a public hospital. A self-administrated questionnaire including questions on nursing work, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) as well as the Stress and Stress Coping questionnaire (SSCQ) was used. The subjects of this study were 225 female nurses. The subjects' age and working experience (mean +/- SD) were 34.0 +/- 10.3 and 10.6 +/- 8.3 years, respectively. The results obtained were as follows: 1) Either of the following determinants was related to negative mental health: experience of 1-2 years; working in the operating room or in-patient department. 2) The subjects whose working experience was < 5 years or > or = 10 years had higher scores in the SSCQ. These subjects were among those who did not have higher scores in the GHQ. It was suggested that these subjects need to receive a guidance in stress coping. These findings suggest that because working conditions have a negative influence on mental health, educational system for both inexperienced and experienced nurses is needed to develop an effective stress-coping style in medical institutions.