National survey of the association of depressive symptoms with the number of off duty and on-call, and sleep hours among physicians working in Japanese hospitals: a cross sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundPhysicians' mental health may be adversely affected by the number of days of work and time spent on-call, and improved by sleep and days-off. The aim of this study was to determine the associations of depressive symptoms with taking days of off duty, hours of sleep, and the number of days of on-call and overnight work among physicians working in Japanese hospitals.MethodsA cross-sectional study as a national survey was conducted by mail. The study population was 10,000 randomly selected physicians working in hospitals who were also members of the Japan Medical Association (response rate 40.5%). Self-reported anonymous questionnaire was sent to assess the number of days off-duty, overnight work, and on-calls, and the average number of sleep hours on days not working overnight in the previous one month. Depressive state was determined by the Japanese version of the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the associations between depressive symptoms and the studied variables.ResultsAmong the respondents, 8.3% of men and 10.5% of women were determined to be depressed. For both men and women, depressive state was associated with having no off-duty days and averaging less than 5 hours of sleep on days not doing overnight work. Depressive state was positively associated with being on-call more than 5 days per month for men, and more than 8 days per month for women, and was negatively associated with being off-duty more than 8 days per month for men.ConclusionSome physicians need some support to maintain their mental health. Physicians who do not take enough days-off, who reduced sleep hours, and who have certain number of days on-calls may develop depressive symptoms.

Effects of work burden, job strain and support on depressive symptoms and burnout among Japanese physicians

“…The variety of their burden probably attenuated these results. As previously mentioned, Japanese hospital physicians tend to be affected by long working hours [2,3] and the shortage of some specialties [4], and a recent study of Japanese hospital doctors has reported that a depressive state is negatively associated with having more than 8 days off per month for men [7]. In our present study, only 2-4 days have been few reports on the relationship between job strain itself and mental health problems among physicians.…”

“…Further studies are needed to clarify whether support from co-workers has a greater buffering effect on mental health than support from supervisors. A recent study of Japanese hospital doctors has reported that a depressive state is positively associated with being on call for more than 5 days per month for men and for more than 8 days per month for women, and is negatively associated with having more than 8 days off per month for men [7]. In our present study, only 2-4 days off per month had a significantly higher odds ratio for burnout.…”

“…Moreover, days off, on call and night duty have been reported to affect physicians' mental health [7,8].…”

Association of depressive symptoms with dietary habits among Japanese physicians

“…OPEN ACCESS association of depressive symptoms with dietary habits. We adjusted for age, working factors which were associated with depressive symptoms in previous studies [1,6] such as the number of overnight works, on-calls, and off-duties, average hour of sleeping not doing overnight work, and unreasonable violence at work. We also adjusted for lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol intake, and regular exercise.…”

“…Physicians tend to have poor lifestyles because of long working hours and heavy workloads [1]. Poor lifestyles have been associated with mental disorders among the general population [2], and physicians are no exception.…”