April/May 2013 (vol. 09/6)

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GPs’ job demands predict stress

A 10-year prospective cohort study of 886 public sector doctors in Finland found that job demands predicted psychological distress in GPs but not in specialists. There were no significant differences between specialists and GPs in symptoms of distress, sleep problems, job control or effort–reward imbalance. GPs reported significantly higher job demands compared with specialists. There was a significant interaction effect between job demands and psychological distress for GPs (regression coefficient = 0.15; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.11–0.18; p = 0.005) but not for specialists (RC = 0.04; CI -0.03–0.10). The authors note that higher work demands associated with primary care, and GPs being more likely than specialists to work alone may explain the differences.

Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2013; online first: doi: 10.1136/oemed-2012-100996 http://oem.bmj.com/content/early/2013/01/14/oemed-2012-100996.abstract

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Occupational Health at Work April/May 2013 (vol. 09/6) pp16