A pilot study -on assessment, evaluation and management of the mental and somatic health of physiotherapists of the Semmelweis University Rehabilitation Clinic

Abstract

Due to the nature of their work, the physical and psychological burden of healthcare workers is high, according to both national and international research, and the psychological effects of the Covid-19 pandemic also have exacerbated this. In Hungary, many researches focus on studying the mental and somatic health of healthcare workers in general or in different specializations, but there is a lack of targeted research regarding specifically the health of physiotherapists following the pandemic.

The authors' aim is to map the indicators of mental and somatic health status and cognitive emotion regulation strategies of physiotherapists working at the Semmelweis University Rehabilitation Clinic (former National Institute for Medical Rehabilitation), to make proposals for risk reduction and to present supporting research and guidelines for managers in the field.

The physiotherapists were surveyed in the fall of 2023 through a cross-sectional online survey with validated measurement instruments. Regarding mental and somatic health, we examined depression (BDI-9, Rózsa et al.: 2001), burnout (COPSOQ II, Nistor et al.: 2015), perceived stress (PSS-10, Stauder et al.: 2006), somatic symptoms (PHQ-15, Stauder et al.: 2021), and cognitive emotion regulation (CERQ, Miklósi et al.: 2011). A total of 68 individuals participated in the study. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 20.0 program and descriptive statistical methods.

According to the results, 29.41% of the studied population reported symptoms of clinical depression, 20.60% fell within the „high risk” and 44.10% in the „moderate risk” range for burnout, furthermore, a high stress level of 20.47% was found. In addition, 25.0% of the total sample reported moderate and 16.18% severe somatic symptoms, despite the fact that the adaptive and non-adaptive cognitive coping strategies of physiotherapists are similar to those of the average population.

In light of these findings, we aim to provide guidelines for risk mitigating interventions both at national and the institutional level. Simultaneously, in order to protect mental and and somatic health, managers of the field are provided with options at the individual and organisational level.