Menopausal Symptoms and Burnout: Comparison of Occupational Health Issue Among Health Professionals in UMC Hospitals

Menopause is a complex physiological process that marks the end of the reproductive phase of a woman's life, and some women in that population refer to various symptoms like hot flashes, sleep disturbances, decreased physical strength, mood changes, and bladder irritability. The increasing presence of women in the workplace and the aging of the women's workforce have elicited growing interest in the link between menopause and work. Studies in the occupational-medicine field provide evidence of how certain aspects of the physical work environment exacerbate menopausal symptoms. Furthermore, there are direct and indirect costs from a lack of organizational support for menopausal women in terms of increased absenteeism, presenteeism, and medical checkups.

Occupational Burnout (OB) is a syndrome of physical and psychological exhaustion of health care professionals. It has three dimensions relating to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of personal achievements. Extant studies in the occupational health psychology (OHP) field have highlighted many factors in the health-care providers work environment that might increase the risk of developing burnout. It has been well-established that among human-service professionals, the most important burnout risk is represented by the emotionally demanding relationships between caregivers and recipients.

Excessive workload and loss of control in one's profession are cited as the top reasons for burnout among physicians. Likewise, among surgeons, a primary contributing factor for burnout is long working hours, with only a third of surgeons feeling their work schedule had left enough time for personal or family life. Work family conflicts are also more common if surgeons are married to another physician or surgeon. Clearly these reasons imply that a primary root of the problem lies with organizations and care delivery systems rather than the individuals. Furthermore, workplace politics can be associated with a higher risk of burnout, depression and coronary artery disease. Adequate staffing, good leadership and support were found to reduce the risk of burnout, highlighting the importance of fair hospital management, policy and practice. Nevertheless, causes of burnout are not always organizational in nature; a proportion are due to the mishandling of stress related to the profession or at work. This is especially evident among vulnerable physicians with traits including idealism, perfectionism and a great sense of responsibility. Early career physicians (i.e. ≤ 5 years in practice) who have these personality traits are at a greater risk, particularly during the first few years immediately after completion of their fellowship. An early presence in academic and private settings and being involved in interventional procedures can be stressful to an early career physician. In addition, certain patient factors may also contribute to burnout; these include unrealistic expectations, declining patient health and aggression from patients. Prolonged patient contact and development of family-like relationships may also result in emotional detachment and burnout.

In summary, contributing factors leading to burnout are poor working conditions with long work shifts, stressful on-call duties, lack of appreciation, and poor social interactions. Burnout can lead to adverse consequences, such as depression, substance use, and suicidal ideation. This can result in poor patient care, increasing total length of stay, re-admissions, and major medical errors. Due to increased scrutiny of patient and healthcare costs, along with increased lawsuits as a result of major medical errors, it is crucial for both the hospital management and healthcare providers to recognize and address burnout. Comprehensive professional training such as Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), stress-reducing activities such as mindfulness and group activities, and strict implementation of work-hour limitations are a few methods that may help to manage burnout and increase productivity in hospitals.This study aims at evaluating the burnout in women healthcare providers (physicians and nurses) Kazakhstan settings, and to investigate the potential parameters that play a role in increasing the risk of burnout. This study would apply the OBI in a sample of menopausal healthcare providers belonging to the UMC - quaternary healthcare institution in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.