On-call work and physicians' well-being: Testing the potential mediators

T. Heponiemi, S. Puttonen, M. Elovainio

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background On-call duties have been rated to be among the most stressful aspects of physicians' work. On-call work has been associated, for example, with medical errors, injuries and lower well-being. Thus, because it is not possible to remove on-call duties, measures to decrease the negative ramifications of on-call work are needed. Aims To examine whether working on-call would predict psychological distress, job satisfaction and work ability in a 4-year follow-up and whether sleeping problems or work interference with family (WIF) would act as mechanisms in these associations. Methods Questionnaires in 2006 and 2010 among physicians in Finland. The mediation analyses were conducted using methods suggested by Preacher and Hayes to examine direct and indirect effects with multiple mediators. Results There were 1541 respondents (60% women) of whom 52% had on-call duties. Sleeping problems and WIF acted as mechanisms in the association of existence of on-call duties with high distress, low job satisfaction and low work ability. On-call work was associated with higher levels of sleeping problems and WIF, and the number of active on-call hours was associated with higher levels of WIF, but not with sleeping problems. Conclusions According to our results, one way to attenuate on-call work's negative ramifications is to make it easier for on-call physicians to connect work and family lives and develop work arrangements to promote better sleep and protected sleep time.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberkqu036
Pages (from-to)352–357
Number of pages6
JournalOccupational Medicine
Volume64
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2014
Externally publishedYes
Publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • Follow-up
  • On-call
  • Physicians
  • Sleep
  • Work-family conflict
  • Work-related stress

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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