Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Work–Life Conflict and Its Health Effects on Korean Gastroenterologists According to Age and Sex

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Digestive Diseases and Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

This study aimed to evaluate the work–life pattern and prevalence of occupation-related symptoms, as well as the effect of work–life balance on health status according to age and sex among Korean gastroenterologists.

Methods

A total of 222 gastroenterologists from 44 nationwide centers in South Korea participated in an anonymized self-responded electronic questionnaire survey about their daily activities and symptoms for 14 days. Musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal and mental symptoms were scored using a numerical scale. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to measure the burnout score.

Results

Korean gastroenterologists (124 men and 98 women) spent 71.5 ± 19.0 h/week for work (54.0 ± 16.2 in-hospital and 17.5 ± 9.5 out-of-hospital), without any differences regarding sex. However, women spent more time performing housework and parenting (20.7 ± 19.0) compared to men (14.3 ± 13.3, P = 0.007). Musculoskeletal pain was found in 199 respondents (89.6%), and women had a higher total pain score compared to men in all age groups (P = 0.016). Gastrointestinal and mental symptoms were found in 119 (53.6%) and 153 (68.9%), respectively. Work–life ratio was significantly correlated with musculoskeletal (P < 0.001), gastrointestinal (P = 0.048) and mental symptoms (P = 0.003). Using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, 64.4% of the respondents demonstrated burnout. Moreover, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment scores were worst in women in their 30s or 40s.

Conclusion

Korean gastroenterologists suffered from musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal and mental symptoms and were highly prone to burnout due to long and laboring work. Work–life imbalance and burnout were most severe in young women doctors due to their domestic demands.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Harvin G. Review of musculoskeletal injuries and prevention in the endoscopy practitioner. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2014;48:590–594.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Ofori E, Ramai D, John F, Reddy M, Ghevariya V. Occupation-associated health hazards for the gastroenterologist/endoscopist. Ann Gastroenterol. 2018;31:448–455.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Byun YH, Lee JH, Park MK, et al. Procedure-related musculoskeletal symptoms in gastrointestinal endoscopists in Korea. World J Gastroenterol. 2008;14:4359–4364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Agius RM, Blenkin H, Deary IJ, Zealley HE, Wood RA. Survey of perceived stress and work demands of consultant doctors. Occup Environ Med. 1996;53:217–224.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kang MK, Kang YS, Kim JR, et al. The levels of psychosocial stress, job stress and related factors of medical doctors practicing at local clinics. J Prev Med Public Health. 2007;40:177–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Alterman T, Shekelle RB, Vernon SW, Burau KD. Decision latitude, psychologic demand, job strain, and coronary heart disease in the western electric study. Am J Epidemiol. 1994;139:620–627.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Lim SK, Yoo SJ, Koo DL, et al. Stress and sleep quality in doctors working on-call shifts are associated with functional gastrointestinal disorders. World J Gastroenterol. 2017;23:3330–3337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Dyrbye LN, Shanafelt TD, Balch CM, Satele D, Sloan J, Freischlag J. Relationship between work-home conflicts and burnout among American surgeons: a comparison by sex. Arch Surg. 2011;146:211–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Deng S, Yang N, Li S, Wang W, Yan H, Li H. Doctors’ job satisfaction and its relationships with doctor-patient relationship and work-family conflict in China: a structural equation modeling. Inquiry. 2018;55:46958018790831.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Shanafelt TD, Hasan O, Dyrbye LN, et al. Changes in burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance in physicians and the general US working population between 2011 and 2014. Mayo Clin Proc. 2015;90:1600–1613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Margiotta F, Crudden G, Byrne D, Doherty AM. Prevalence and co-variates of burnout in consultant hospital doctors: burnout in consultants in Ireland Study (BICDIS). Ir J Med Sci. 2019;188:355–364.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Lu Y, Hu XM, Huang XL, et al. Job satisfaction and associated factors among healthcare staff: a cross-sectional study in Guangdong Province, China. BMJ Open. 2016;6:e011388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. LaDonna KA, Ginsburg S, Watling C. Shifting and sharing: academic physicians’ strategies for navigating underperformance and failure. Acad Med. 2018;93:1713–1718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Baptiste D, Fecher AM, Dolejs SC, et al. Gender differences in academic surgery, work-life balance, and satisfaction. J Surg Res. 2017;218:99–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Guille C, Frank E, Zhao Z, et al. Work-family conflict and the sex difference in depression among training physicians. JAMA Intern Med. 2017;177:1766–1772.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Treister-Goltzman Y, Peleg R. Female physicians and the work-family conflict. Isr Med Assoc J. 2016;18:261–266.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Ruzycki SM, Fletcher S, Earp M, Bharwani A, Lithgow KC. Trends in the proportion of female speakers at medical conferences in the United States and in Canada, 2007 to 2017. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2:e192103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Jolly S, Griffith KA, DeCastro R, Stewart A, Ubel P, Jagsi R. Gender differences in time spent on parenting and domestic responsibilities by high-achieving young physician-researchers. Ann Intern Med. 2014;160:344–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Lyu HG, Davids JS, Scully RE, Melnitchouk N. Association of domestic responsibilities with career satisfaction for physician mothers in procedural vs nonprocedural fields. JAMA Surg. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2019.0529.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Blumenthal DM, Olenski AR, Yeh RW, et al. Sex differences in faculty rank among academic cardiologists in the United States. Circulation. 2017;135:506–517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Filardo G, da Graca B, Sass DM, Pollock BD, Smith EB, Martinez MA. Trends and comparison of female first authorship in high impact medical journals: observational study (1994-2014). BMJ. 2016;352:i847.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Kim YS, Kim N. Sex-gender differences in irritable bowel syndrome. J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2018;24:544–558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Kim YS, Kim N, Kim GH. Sex and gender differences in gastroesophageal reflux disease. J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2016;22:575–588.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Park SM, Kim N, Paik HY. Experiences with a graduate course on sex and gender medicine in Korea. J Educ Eval Health Prof. 2018;15:13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Schaufeli WB, Bakker AB, Hoogduin K, Schaap C, Kladler A. on the clinical validity of the maslach burnout inventory and the burnout measure. Psychol Health. 2001;16:565–582.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Korea Statistics. 2018 Work and family balance indicators. 2018.

  27. Korea Statistics. Life of a woman as a statistic 2018. 2018.

  28. Kim SE, Kim N, Lee JY, et al. Prevalence and risk factors of functional dyspepsia in health check-up population: a nationwide multicenter prospective study. J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2018;24:603–613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Park H. Functional gastrointestinal disorders and overlap syndrome in Korea. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2011;26:12–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Williford ML, Scarlet S, Meyers MO, et al. Multiple-institution comparison of resident and faculty perceptions of burnout and depression during surgical training. JAMA Surg. 2018;153:705–711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Lacy BE, Chan JL. Physician burnout: the hidden health care crisis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018;16:311–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Jin MU, Jeong SH, Kim EK, Choi YH, Song KB. Burnout and its related factors in Korean dentists. Int Dent J. 2015;65:22–31.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Choi BS, Kim JS, Lee DW, et al. Factors associated with emotional exhaustion in South Korean nurses: a cross-sectional study. Psychiatry Investig. 2018;15:670–676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Anderson JC, Pfeil S, Surawicz C. Strategies to combat physician burnout in gastroenterology. Am J Gastroenterol. 2017;112:1356–1359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Balch CM, Shanafelt TD, Dyrbye L, et al. Surgeon distress as calibrated by hours worked and nights on call. J Am Coll Surg. 2010;211:609–619.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Howell LP, Beckett LA, Nettiksimmons J, Villablanca AC. Generational and gender perspectives on career flexibility: ensuring the faculty workforce of the future. Am J Med. 2012;125:719–728.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Korea Federation of Women Science and Technology Association (KOFWST) and the Korean Women Medical Association.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 82 Gumi-ro, 173 Beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

    Eun Sun Jang, Jong Chan Lee & Nayoung Kim

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Chungbuk National University College of Medicine, Cheongju, South Korea

    Seon Mee Park

  3. School of Medicine, Eulji Hospital, Eulji University, Seoul, South Korea

    Young Sook Park

Authors
  1. Eun Sun Jang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Seon Mee Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Young Sook Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jong Chan Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Nayoung Kim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

ES Jang and N Kim conducted the study and drafted the manuscript. SM Park and YS Kim designed the study and interpreted data. JC Lee collected the data. All authors approved the final draft submitted.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nayoung Kim.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 39 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jang, E.S., Park, S.M., Park, Y.S. et al. Work–Life Conflict and Its Health Effects on Korean Gastroenterologists According to Age and Sex. Dig Dis Sci 65, 86–95 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-019-05842-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-019-05842-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation