European Society for Radiotherapy&Oncology (ESTRO) Young Committee, Brussels, Belgium; Department of Oncology, Radiation Oncology, University of Turin, Italy.
Department of Psychology, "ReMind the Body" Research Group, University of Turin, Italy.
Radiother Oncol. 2020 Jun;147:162-168. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2020.05.017. Epub 2020 May 15.
Different factors may influence the professional quality of life of oncology professionals. Among them, personality traits, as alexithymia and empathy, are underinvestigated. Alexithymia is about deficits in emotion processing and awareness. Empathy is the ability to understand another's 'state of mind'/emotion. The PROject on BurnOut in RadiatioN Oncology (PRO BONO) assesses professional quality of life, including burnout, in the field of radiation oncology and investigates alexithymia and empathy as contributing factors.
An online survey was conducted amongst ESTRO members. Participants completed 3 validated questionnaires for alexithymia, empathy and professional quality of life: (a) Toronto Alexithymia Scale; (b) Interpersonal Reactivity Index; (c) Professional Quality of Life Scale. The present analysis, focusing on radiation/clinical oncologists, evaluates Compassion Satisfaction (CS), Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) and Burnout and correlates them with alexithymia and empathy (empathic concern, perspective taking and personal distress) with generalized linear modeling. Significant covariates on univariate linear regression analysis were included in the multivariate linear regression model.
A total of 825 radiation oncologists completed all questionnaires. A higher level of alexithymia was associated to decreased CS (β: -0.101; SE: 0.018; p < 0.001), increased STS (β: 0.228; SE: 0.018; p < 0.001) and burnout (β: 0.177; SE: 0.016; p < 0.001). A higher empathic concern was significantly associated to increased CS (β: 0.1.287; SE: 0.305; p = 0.001), STS (β: 0.114; SE: 0.296; p < 0.001), with no effect on burnout. Personal distress was associated to decreased CS (β: -1.423; SE: 0.275; p < 0.001), increased STS (β: 1.871; SE: 0.283; p < 0.001) and burnout (β: 1.504; SE: 0.245; p < 0.001).
Alexithymic personality trait increased burnout risk, with less professional satisfaction. Empathic concern was associated to increased stress, without leading to burnout, resulting in higher professional fulfillment. These results may be used to benchmark preventing strategies, such as work-hour restrictions, peer support, debriefing sessions, and leadership initiatives for professionals at risk.
不同的因素可能会影响肿瘤学专业人员的职业素质。其中，人格特质，如述情障碍和同理心，研究较少。述情障碍是指情绪处理和意识方面的缺陷。同理心是理解他人“心理状态”/情绪的能力。PROject on BurnOut in RadiatioN Oncology（PRO BONO）评估放射肿瘤学领域的职业生活质量，包括倦怠，并调查述情障碍和同理心作为促成因素。
在 ESTRO 成员中进行了在线调查。参与者完成了 3 项用于述情障碍、同理心和职业生活质量的验证问卷：（a）多伦多述情障碍量表；（b）人际反应指数；（c）职业生活质量量表。本分析重点关注放射肿瘤学/临床肿瘤学家，评估同情满足（CS）、继发性创伤应激（STS）和倦怠，并使用广义线性模型将其与述情障碍和同理心（同理心关怀、换位思考和个人困扰）相关联。在单变量线性回归分析中具有统计学意义的协变量被纳入多变量线性回归模型。
共有 825 名放射肿瘤学家完成了所有问卷。较高的述情障碍水平与 CS 降低（β：-0.101；SE：0.018；p<0.001）、STS 增加（β：0.228；SE：0.018；p<0.001）和倦怠（β：0.177；SE：0.016；p<0.001）有关。较高的同理心关怀与 CS 增加显著相关（β：0.1.287；SE：0.305；p=0.001）、STS（β：0.114；SE：0.296；p<0.001），与倦怠无关。个人困扰与 CS 降低（β：-1.423；SE：0.275；p<0.001）、STS 增加（β：1.871；SE：0.283；p<0.001）和倦怠（β：1.504；SE：0.245；p<0.001）有关。
述情障碍人格特质增加了倦怠风险，导致职业满意度降低。同理心关怀与压力增加有关，但不会导致倦怠，从而使职业满意度更高。这些结果可用于为处于风险中的专业人员制定基准预防策略，例如工作时间限制、同伴支持、汇报会议和领导力举措。
