Well-being of residents in training programs of Abu Dhabi health services

Background: Residency is a stressful period adversely affecting the health and lifestyle of resident physicians. In September 2001, the American Council of Graduate Medical Education released requirements that limit resident working hours in an effort to decrease resident fatigue. Aims: We aimed to measure the prevalence of stress, burnout, and depression among residents working in Abu Dhabi Health Services and to determine the percentage of residents with a healthy lifestyle and to compare the well-being of residents from different specialties. Setting and Design: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the year 2016 among resident doctors in Abu Dhabi. The study population comprised 458 residents representing 20 training programs at six institutions. Subjects and Methods: All the residents were provided self-administered questionnaires. Results: Response rate was 81%. The prevalence of perceived stress among residents was 86.4%. Stress was significantly associated with workload (P < 0.01) and night shifts (P < 0.001) among residents from most specialties. Regarding burnout, 65.7% of the residents felt emotionally exhausted and 50.8% felt depressed at some point during their residency. Furthermore, 58.8% of the residents with chronic diseases had an uncontrolled disease status. Conclusion: Majority of the residents of Abu Dhabi Health Services experienced high rates of burnout, depression, and stress along with poor lifestyle and uncontrolled status of chronic diseases.

Key-words:

Burnout - depression - education - lifestyle - medical training - postgraduate - residency - stress - well-being

Publication History

Article published online:
07 July 2022