Table 3.
Stressors, ideations, and stress management training among consultant physicians in Saudi Arabia (n=582)
| Characteristics | Total | Low (PSS≤15) | Medium (PSS=16–19) | High (PSS≥20) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faced any life stressor in the last year? | |||||
| No | 13 (2.2%) | 11 (84.6%) | 2 (15.4%) | 0 (0.0%) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 569 (97.8%) | 186 (32.7%) | 186 (32.7%) | 197 (34.6%) | |
| Types | |||||
| Work-related | 399 (68.6%) | 119 (29.8%) | 125 (31.3%) | 155 (38.8%) | <0.001 |
| Family | 237 (40.7%) | 67 (28.3%) | 80 (33.8%) | 90 (38.0%) | 0.051 |
| Financial | 144 (24.7%) | 32 (22.2%) | 50 (34.7%) | 62 (43.1%) | 0.002 |
| Marital | 111 (19.1%) | 22 (19.8%) | 35 (31.5%) | 54 (48.6%) | <0.001 |
| Health | 108 (18.6%) | 24 (22.2%) | 29 (26.9%) | 55 (50.9%) | <0.001 |
| Academic | 101 (17.4%) | 26 (25.7%) | 34 (33.7%) | 41 (40.6%) | 0.130 |
| Death of a loved one | 74 (12.7%) | 29 (39.2%) | 19 (25.7%) | 26 (35.1%) | 0.385 |
| Homesickness | 48 (8.2%) | 13 (27.1%) | 17 (35.4%) | 18 (37.5%) | 0.586 |
| Other | 23 (4.0%) | 9 (39.1%) | 9 (39.1%) | 5 (21.7%) | 0.454 |
| Is your current work environment stressful? | |||||
| Agree | 492 (84.5%) | 147 (29.9%) | 159 (32.3%) | 186 (37.8%) | <0.001 |
| Disagree | 47 (8.1%) | 28 (59.6%) | 13 (27.7%) | 6 (12.8%) | |
| Not sure | 43 (7.4%) | 22 (51.2%) | 16 (37.2%) | 5 (11.6%) | |
| Reasons | |||||
| Workload (number or type of patients) | 292 (50.2%) | 89 (30.5%) | 91 (31.2%) | 112 (38.4%) | 0.057 |
| Noncooperative administration | 257 (44.2%) | 59 (23.0%) | 85 (33.1%) | 113 (44.0%) | <0.001 |
| Long working hours | 172 (29.6%) | 55 (32.0%) | 52 (30.2%) | 65 (37.8%) | 0.428 |
| Low salary | 128 (22.0%) | 40 (31.3%) | 43 (33.6%) | 45 (35.2%) | 0.781 |
| Nonclinical load (research or teaching) | 111 (19.1%) | 32 (28.8%) | 34 (30.6%) | 45 (40.5%) | 0.228 |
| Conflict with colleagues | 102 (17.5%) | 22 (21.6%) | 38 (37.3%) | 42 (41.2%) | 0.015 |
| Conflict with boss | 88 (15.1%) | 21 (23.9%) | 29 (33.0%) | 38 (43.2%) | 0.057 |
| None of the above | 39 (6.7%) | 27 (69.2%) | 9 (23.1%) | 3 (7.7%) | <0.001 |
| Other | 71 (12.2%) | 26 (36.6%) | 23 (32.4%) | 22 (31.0%) | 0.827 |
| Thoughts | |||||
| Changing hospital/medical institute | 310 (53.3%) | 86 (27.7%) | 104 (33.5%) | 120 (38.7%) | 0.002 |
| Working outside Saudi Arabia | 243 (41.8%) | 63 (25.9%) | 81 (33.3%) | 99 (40.7%) | 0.001 |
| Moving to administrative/nonclinical work | 61 (10.5%) | 12 (19.7%) | 20 (32.8%) | 29 (47.5%) | 0.020 |
| Leaving medicine altogether | 96 (16.5%) | 18 (18.8%) | 29 (30.2%) | 49 (51.0%) | <0.001 |
| Moving to a nonacademic institute | 28 (4.8%) | 8 (28.6%) | 7 (25.0%) | 13 (46.4%) | 0.349 |
| None of the above | 121 (20.8%) | 67 (55.4%) | 35 (28.9%) | 19 (15.7%) | <0.001 |
| Other | 35 (6.0%) | 12 (34.3%) | 11 (31.4%) | 12 (34.3%) | 0.994 |
| Actions | |||||
| Changing hospital/medical institute | 222 (38.1%) | 56 (25.2%) | 80 (36.0%) | 86 (38.7%) | 0.003 |
| Working outside Saudi Arabia | 87 (14.9%) | 27 (31.0%) | 21 (24.1%) | 39 (44.8%) | 0.050 |
| Moving to administrative/nonclinical work | 58 (10.0%) | 10 (17.2%) | 22 (37.9%) | 26 (44.8%) | 0.017 |
| Leaving medicine altogether | 31 (5.3%) | 10 (32.3%) | 8 (25.8%) | 13 (41.9%) | 0.581 |
| Moving to a nonacademic institute | 13 (2.2%) | 2 (15.4%) | 3 (23.1%) | 8 (61.5%) | 0.140 |
| None of the above | 254 (43.6%) | 111 (43.7%) | 78 (30.7%) | 65 (25.6%) | <0.001 |
| Other | 30 (5.2%) | 7 (23.3%) | 12 (40.0%) | 11 (36.7%) | 0.430 |
| Had wishes of dying in the last year (passive suicidal ideation) | |||||
| No or rarely | 548 (94.2%) | 195 (35.6%) | 177 (32.3%) | 176 (32.1%) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 34 (5.8%) | 2 (5.9%) | 11 (32.4%) | 21 (61.8%) | |
| Had thoughts of ending your life in the last year (active suicidal ideation) | |||||
| No or rarely | 578 (99.3%) | 197 (34.1%) | 185 (32.0%) | 196 (33.9%) | 0.127 |
| Yes | 4 (0.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | 3 (75.0%) | 1 (25.0%) | |
| Educated or trained in stress management | |||||
| No | 461 (79.2%) | 154 (33.4%) | 148 (32.1%) | 159 (34.5%) | 0.808 |
| Yes | 121 (20.8%) | 43 (35.5%) | 40 (33.1%) | 38 (31.4%) |
Note: Data shown as number (percentage).
Abbreviation: PSS, perceived stress scale.