Stress-associated diseases among physicians—how effective are interventions to increase resilience?

Abstract

Background: Among physicians there is an increased prevalence of stress-associated diseases like depression or burnout and even an increased risk of suicide and drug abuse. Objectives: Can interventions among physicians increase resilience and decrease stress? Materials and methods: Systematic review in the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and Embase between 2011 and 2018. The results from four randomized controlled trials were compared. Results: Interventions can increase resilience and decrease stress among physicians. Especially female physicians and physicians with less professional experience seem to benefit from those interventions. Conclusions: Due to the fact that even short interventions already have a positive impact, the implementation should be possible in every hospital.