Resilience among Malaysian Community Pharmacists and General Medical Practitioners Using the 10-Item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC): The First National Survey

Abstract

With the growing importance of the healthcare sector, resilience has become a fundamental personal quality that healthcare professionals need to cultivate to cope with adverse events in daily work. Distress in the workplace cannot only impact the well-being of healthcare professionals but also negatively affect the capability to care effectively for others. This study was conducted to determine the score and level of resilience among private primary healthcare professionals and their relationships with independent variables. Sets of questionnaires on resilience based on the Connor–Davidson resilience scale-10 (CD-RISC-10) were completed by 164 general practitioners (GPs) and 87 community pharmacists (CPs). Inferential analysis was used to assess the difference, correlation, association, and predictor among dependent and independent variables. The validity and reliability of the study instrument were assessed using Modern Test Theory (MTT) and Classical Test Theory (CTT). The majority of GPs and CPs possessed the lowest resilience level. There were significant differences between CD-RISC-10 with gender, age, and years of experience in GPs as well as overall. Significant associations were found between CD-RISC-10 with all independent variables, except for the highest education level in GPs and overall. This study revealed significant correlations between independent variables with CD-RISC-10 in GPs and overall. However, there were nonsignificant differences, associations, and correlations among CPs between all independent variables and CD-RISC-10. Gender was the predictor of CD-RISC-10 in GPs, while age and years of experience were the predictors of CD-RISC-10 in GPs and overall. There was no predictor of independent variables for CPs. In multinomial logistics regression, years of experience and gender were the significant predictors of CD-RISC-10 among GPs. The CD-RISC-10 instrument had good validity and reliability. Overall, healthcare professionals showed a low level of resilience. This emphasized the need to cultivate and build resilience, as it is a desirable, important element when working in harsh and unprecedented healthcare settings.