Advanced search

Search results      

Burn-out in Osteopathic Medical Students: The Effects of Meditation Before and After the Arrival of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Krishnamachari, B. [7]
Morris, A. [2]
Chinsky, R. [5]
Pendyala, R. [1]
Blazey, W. [5]
Balentine, J. [4]

Journal: The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association Date: 2020/12, 120(12):Pages: e59-e61. doi: Subito , type of study: randomized controlled trial

Full text    (https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7556/jaoa.2020.157/html)

Keywords:

burnout [22]
covid-19 [80]
medical students [448]
meditation [9]
osteopathic medicine [1631]
randomized controlled trial [766]
stress [89]
USA [1166]

Abstract:

Statement of Significance: According to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), DOs are trained to look at people holistically from the inception of medical school. Decreasing burnout in osteopathic medical students is particularly important as they are the future of the health care workforce. Research shows that physician burnout is directly connected with stress that is initiated during medical school and then continues forward. Thus, addressing stress at an early stage in physician training is critical. While there is some research that shows an association between meditation and general stress levels, few studies have examined the effect of meditation specifically on burnout, which is a term reserved for work related stress. Research Methods: As a part of a larger IRB approved longitudinal randomized controlled trial, first, second and third year osteopathic medical students were recruited and randomized into an intervention group (use of the Headspace meditation app or control group (no use of the app). For this analysis, only students who entered the study in July 2019 were included, since this cohort uniquely experienced the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning January 21, 2020 in the U.S.). The analysis included 15 students in the intervention group and 14 controls. Students in the intervention groups used the app 3 days a week, 10 minutes each session. Burn-out was measured prior to study initiation, 3 months, 6 months (prior to the pandemic beginning) and 9 months (mid-April, at the peak of the pandemic in New York) using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The MBI is a validated and widely used survey tool that evaluates the three types of feelings comprising burnout: namely exhaustion, cynicism and low professional efficacy. Each aspect of burnout is scored between 0 and 6, with higher scores indicating higher degrees of burnout for the exhaustion and cynicism measures, and lower scores indicating higher degrees of burnout for the professional efficacy measure. Data Analysis: All surveys were sent to students using the RedCap data collection and management system. For analysis, data was extracted into an excel spreadsheet and analysis was conducted using SAS 9.4 software. All patients were analyzed using intention-to-treat methods. T tests were used to compare the intervention group and control groups on all continuous variables at each time point. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to self-reported sex. Specifically, subgroup analyses were performed separately on 15 females and 12 males. A p-value under 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: At baseline and at three months, the intervention and control groups did not differ in exhaustion, cynicism or professional efficacy. However, subgroup analyses showed that in females, there was a statistically significant difference (p=0.02) between the control group (mean=3.75, SD 1.11) and intervention group (mean=2.40, SD 0.75) in cynicism at three months, but the same difference was not seen in males. At six months, there was a significant difference between groups in cynicism, with the mean score in controls at 3.90 (SD 1.35) and the mean score in the intervention group at 2.93 (SD 1.09), (p=0.04).With subgroup analysis at six months, in females, there was a statistically significant difference in terms of exhaustion (p=0.002) between the control group (mean=5.48, SD 0.93) and intervention group (mean=3.63, SD 0.91), and a borderline but not significant (p=0.05) difference between groups in cynicism((control mean=4.10 (SD0.95), intervention mean=2.94 (SD1.12)). At nine months, about 45 days after the COVID-19 pandemic had arrived in April 2020, no statistically significant differences were seen in any aspect of burn-out in between the intervention and control groups. Subgroup analysis demonstrated just one statistically significant difference: this was in females for the exhaustion measure (control group mean=5.27 (SD 1.34), intervention mean=3.60 SD (1.28), p=0.04). Conclusion: This study found that meditation using the Headspace app may be effective for improving burn-out levels among osteopathic medical students, particularly amongst female medical students. This is consistent with existing research that suggests that there are differences between genders in terms of burn-out. Females seemed to benefit from the meditation app at an earlier time in terms of cynicism. By six months, there was benefit seen from the meditation app in terms of cynicism in the whole student population, and in females, there also seemed to be a benefit in terms of exhaustion. However, any significant differences between the groups in terms of cynicism were eliminated when the students were surveyed at the height of the pandemic, though in females the significant difference in exhaustion between groups remained. This suggests that meditation protocols may need to be adjusted for different individuals and for different circumstances. Acute and intense stressors such as the pandemic may require interventional protocols beyond what is used for day to day stressors for a medical student. Future analyses will consider additional pertinent information such as demographic details. If ongoing research shows that medical student burn-out decreases with use of a meditation app, medical schools may choose to incorporate this or other tools geared towards stress reduction in their wellness curriculums.

Search results      

 
 
 






  • Impressum • Legal notice • Datenschutz •


ostlib.de/data_pmduesrkncwhtzvagjyq



Supported by

OSTLIB recommends