Ndung'u James Gitonga, Bíró Éva
Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Dec 2;24(1):3354. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20863-5.
Psychological distress is a major public health concern that has many influencing factors. One of them is the financial capability of an individual. Despite the integral role of radiographers in healthcare delivery, there is limited literature about radiographers in Kenya and more so regarding their mental well-being. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the effect of perceived financial worry on mental health among Kenyan radiographers.
Data was collected from registered radiographers in Kenya through an online survey conducted between December 2023 and January 2024. Multivariable binary logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between financial worry and psychological distress.
Out of the 2055 radiographers invited to participate in the survey, 245 responded (11.92% response rate). The gender distribution of the respondents was 39.2% female and 60.8% male, closely mirroring the latest data on registered radiographers (37.3% female and 62.7% male). Most respondents in our study were under 30 years old (56.7%). The majority of radiographers (62.4%) reported poor social support. Additionally, most radiographers experienced some level of financial concern across various issues, with an average financial worry score of 16.75 (standard deviation: 4.97; minimum 3, maximum 24). A significant proportion (36.7%) also showed signs of psychological distress. Individuals with higher levels of financial worry were noted to be more likely to experience psychological distress after adjusting for the socioeconomic and health-related variables (adjusted odds ratio, AOR 1.20, 95% confidence interval, CI 1.10-1.31, p < 0.001). Furthermore, individuals with at least moderate social support (AOR: 0.39; 95% CI 0.18-0.86, p = 0.019) and larger families (AOR: 0.11; 95% CI 0.02-0.78, p = 0.027) were less likely to experience psychological distress compared to their peers.
A significant number of radiographers reported experiencing financial worry which was associated with an increased likelihood of psychological distress. This emphasizes the need for policies and mechanisms to address financial worry and psychological distress to have a more resilient medical workforce in Kenya.
心理困扰是一个主要的公共卫生问题，有许多影响因素。其中之一是个人的经济能力。尽管放射技师在医疗服务中发挥着不可或缺的作用，但关于肯尼亚放射技师的文献有限，尤其是关于他们心理健康的文献。开展了一项描述性横断面研究，以评估感知到的经济担忧对肯尼亚放射技师心理健康的影响。
通过2023年12月至2024年1月进行的在线调查，从肯尼亚注册放射技师那里收集数据。采用多变量二元逻辑回归来评估经济担忧与心理困扰之间的关联。
在邀请参与调查的2055名放射技师中，245人做出了回应（回应率为11.92%）。受访者的性别分布为女性39.2%，男性60.8%，与注册放射技师的最新数据（女性37.3%，男性62.7%）相近。我们研究中的大多数受访者年龄在30岁以下（56.7%）。大多数放射技师（62.4%）报告社会支持较差。此外，大多数放射技师在各种问题上都经历了一定程度的经济担忧，平均经济担忧得分为16.75（标准差：4.97；最小值3，最大值24）。相当一部分人（36.7%）也表现出心理困扰的迹象。在对社会经济和健康相关变量进行调整后，经济担忧程度较高的个体被发现更有可能经历心理困扰（调整后的优势比，AOR为1.20，95%置信区间，CI为1.10 - 1.31，p < 0.001）。此外，与同龄人相比，至少有中等社会支持的个体（AOR：0.39；95% CI为0.18 - 0.86，p = 0.019）和家庭规模较大的个体（AOR：0.11；95% CI为0.02 - 0.78，p = 0.027）经历心理困扰的可能性较小。
相当数量的放射技师报告经历了经济担忧，这与心理困扰可能性增加有关。这强调了在肯尼亚需要制定政策和机制来解决经济担忧和心理困扰，以使医疗劳动力更具韧性。
