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. 2019 Aug 28;20(5):740-746.
doi: 10.5811/westjem.2019.7.42671.

Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Emergency Physicians in the United States

Joseph A DeLucia  1 , Cindy Bitter  1 , Jennifer Fitzgerald  1 , Miggie Greenberg  2 , Preeti Dalwari  1 , Paula Buchanan  3
Affiliations

Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Emergency Physicians in the United States

Joseph A DeLucia et al. West J Emerg Med. .

Abstract

Introduction: There is increasing concern about the effects of occupational stressors on the wellness of healthcare providers. Given high patient acuity, circadian rhythm disruption, and other workplace stressors, emergency physicians (EP) would be predicted to have high rates of occupational stress. We conducted this study to assess the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in attending EPs practicing in the United States.

Methods: A link to an electronic questionnaire was distributed through the emergency medicine-centric publication Emergency Medicine News. We compared the prevalence of PTSD in EPs to the general population using a chi-square goodness of fit test, and performed logistic regression to assess for significance of risk factors.

Results: We received survey responses from 526 persons. In this study, EPs had a PTSD point prevalence of 15.8%. Being a victim of a prior trauma or abuse is the primary predictor of PTSD (odds ratio [OR] [95% confidence interval {CI}, 2.16 (1.21 - 3.86)], p = 0.009) and PTSD severity score (OR [95% CI, 1.16 (1.07 - 1.26)], p <0.001).

Conclusion: Emergency physicians have a substantial burden of PTSD, potentially jeopardizing their own health and career longevity. Future studies should focus on identifying subgroups at higher risk for PTSD and modifiable risk factors. Prevention and treatment strategies should be developed and tested in healthcare providers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: By the WestJEM article submission agreement, all authors are required to disclose all affiliations, funding sources and financial or management relationships that could be perceived as potential sources of bias. No author has professional or financial relationships with any companies that are relevant to this study. There are no conflicts of interest or sources of funding to declare.

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