Background/Purpose: The stress level of healthcare workers may impact the quality of care provided to patients. The prevalence of occupational stress among healthcare workers can range from 27% to 87.4%. Consequently, they are prone to develop chronic conditions like fatigue and fibromyalgia. We aimed to assess stress levels and identify healthcare workers at risk for occupational burnout and fibromyalgia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare professionals in the Abu Dhabi region. Participants voluntarily agreed to participate and completed an anonymous survey between November 2023 and February 2024.The self-administered questionnaire assessed various aspects including sociodemographic characteristics, the Workplace Stress Scale to assess workplace-related stress and the impact of stress on quality of life, focusing on fibromyalgia.

Results: Among the 254 respondents, a majority were females (186; 73.2%); mostly in the age group 20 to 59 years (251; 98.8%). The overall response rate based on the total workforce was 4.5%. Half of the respondents were physicians (48.4%) while the other half were nurses (51.6%). One-third (32.3%) were Emirati and the ethnicities were mostly Arab (131; 51.6%), and Asian (106; 41.7%). About half of the respondents (107; 42%) were relatively new having joined less than five years ago. Table1 A wide range of clinical departments were represented including medical, surgical, and nursing. Half were on shift rotations (144; 56.7%) while the rest were on fixed schedules. Self-reported stress (on a scale of 0 to 10) was higher after joining the current institution compared to baseline stress before joining (mean 6.43 vs. 4.20; p < 0.001). Women reported substantially higher stress (6.70 vs 5.69; p = 0.002). Nurses had lower self-reported stress than consultant physicians (5.77 vs 7.21; p < 0.001). Emirati nationals reported higher stress than non-Emirati respondents (7.11 vs 6.11; p < 0.001). Main source of stress was the workplace for 232 (91.3%) respondents, while others reported home and financial issues. More than half 137 (53.9%) had thought of quitting their job because of work-related stress. Only 33 (13.0%) had attended a stress relaxation workshop or similar support services. There was a moderately strong correlation between workplace stress and fatigue (r = 0.57; p < 0.001). Figure1 On multivariate analysis, the predictors for occupational stress included the following: female gender, fatigue, and certain clinical departments such as anesthesia, cardiology, internal medicine, nephrology, and pediatrics (adjusted R-squared = 0.390). Based on self-reported symptoms, 72 (29.3%) respondents met the criteria for fibromyalgia (95% confidence interval: 24 to 35%); most of these were females 64 out 72 (88.9%).The prevalence was lowest among nurses (25%; 32 out of 130), followed by attending physicians (32%; 18 out of 56), and highest among resident physicians (37%; 22 out of 60). Table2

Conclusion: Fairly high stress was reported by healthcare professionals especially women. Workplace changes and stress reduction support programs are needed urgently to protect this vital workforce.

« Back to ACR Convergence 2024

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/occupational-stress-and-fibromyalgia-among-healthcare-professionals-in-abu-dhabi-region-united-arab-emirates-a-cross-sectional-study/