Fatigue, quality of life, and social support in Greek health staff: Public versus private kidney units
Healthcare professionals often experience fatigue and a diminished quality of life due to demanding hours and challenges in balancing work and personal life. Social support plays a critical role in influencing these factors. This study focused on nurses and healthcare workers in the artificial kidney unit, a specialized area requiring significant expertise to operate complex machinery for seriously ill patients. We assessed levels of fatigue, social support, and quality of life among 159 doctors and nurses in public and private facilities across Greece using the Fatigue Assessment Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and General Health Questionnaire-28. Participants reported moderate fatigue (mean = 2.63, standard deviation [SD] = 0.57 for doctors; mean = 2.42, SD = 0.49 for nurses) and moderate-to-high levels of social support (mean = 5.66, SD = 1.35). Factors negatively impacting quality of life, such as physical symptoms, anxiety, social dysfunction, and severe depression, yielded low scores. Notably, fatigue and quality of life differed significantly between public and private sectors (p < 0.05), with public sector professionals reporting higher fatigue levels and lower quality of life. These findings highlight the need for healthcare authorities to address the unique challenges faced by staff in artificial kidney units, particularly in public hospitals, to improve working conditions and overall well-being.
Alikari, V., Fradelos, E., Sachlas, A., Panoutsopoulos, G., Lavdaniti, M., Palla, P., et al. (2016). Reliability and validity of the Greek version of “the fatigue assessment scale”. Archives of Hellenic Medicine, 33:231-238.
Arimon-Pagès, E., Torres-Puig-Gros, J., Fernández-Ortega, P., & Canela-Soler, J. (2019). Emotional impact and compassion fatigue in oncology nurses: Results of a multicentre study. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 43:101666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2019.09.007
Cao, X., & Chen, L. (2019). Relationships among social support, empathy, resilience and work engagement in haemodialysis nurses. International Nursing Review, 66(3):366-373.
Cao, X., & Chen, L. (2021). Relationships between resilience, empathy, compassion fatigue, work engagement and turnover intention in haemodialysis nurses: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Nursing Management, 29(5):1054-1063.
Garyfallos, G., Karastergiou, A., Adamopoulou, A., Moutzoukis, C., Alagiozidou, E., Mala, D., et al. (1991) Greek version of the general health questionnaire: Accuracy of translation and validity. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1991;84(4):371-378. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1991.tb03162.x
Goldberg, D. P., & Hillier, V. F. (1979). A scaled version of the general health questionnaire. Psychol Med, 9, 139-145. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291700021644
Goldberg, D.P., Gater, R., Sartorius, N., Ustun, T.B., Piccinelli, M., Gureje, O., et al. (1997). The validity of two versions of the GHQ in the WHO study of mental illness in general health care. Psychological Medicine, 27(1):191-197. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291796004242
He, M., Wang, Q., Zhu, S., Tan, A., He, Q., Chen, T., et al. (2012). Health-related quality of life of doctors and nurses in China: Findings based on the latest open-access data. Quality of Life Research, 21(10):1727-1730. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-011-0088-0 https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12516
Michielsen, H.J., De Vries, J., & Van Heck, G.L. (2003). Psychometric qualities of a brief self-rated fatigue measure: The Fatigue Assessment Scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 54(4):345-352. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3999(02)00392-6
Rotenstein, L.S., Torre, M., Ramos, M.A., Rosales, R.C., Guille, C., Sen, S., et al. (2018). Prevalence of burnout among physicians: A systematic review. JAMA, 320(11):1131-1150. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.12777
Schaefer, C., Coyne, J.C., & Lazarus, R.S. (1981). The health-related functions of social support. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4(4):381-406. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00846149
Theofilou, P. (2015). Translation and cultural adaptation of the multidimensional scale of perceived social support for Greece. Health Psychology Research, 3(1):1061. https://doi.org/10.4081/hpr.2015.1061
Theofilou, P. (2023). Perceived social support among patients and the contribution in the management of the chronic disease: A brief review. Series of Clinical and Medical Case Reports and Reviews, 1(5):1-9.
Theofilou, P., & Varemenos, I. (2024). Perceived Social support as a predictive factor of fatigue and quality of life among healthcare professionals in Greece. Qeios. https://doi.org/10.32388/N3U7W8.3
Theofilou, P., Iona, D., & Tzavella, F. (2022). Association between General health, fatigue and social support among health professionals: A cross - sectional study in Greece. Journal of Community Medicine and Health Care, 7(2):1058.
Theofilou, P., Tzavella, F., & Zyga, S. (2022a). Demographic and occupational factors affecting fatigue and social support among nurses in the emergency department: A cross-sectional study. Austin Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology, 9(3):1132.
Theofilou, P., Zyga, S., Tzitzikos, G., Malindretos, P., & Kotrotsiou, E. (2013). Assessing social support in Greek patients on maintenance hemodialysis: Psychometric Properties of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. In: Balogun, R.A., Abdel-Rahman, E.M., & Balogun, S.A., editors. Chronic Kidney Disease: Signs/Symptoms, Management Options and Potential Complications, Nova Publishers. (University of Virginia, Divisions of Nephrology and Geriatrics, USA,). p265-279.
Vamvakas, E., Kontogeorgou, I., Ntaountaki, A., Karkouli, G., Pisimisi, E., Karampekiou, E., et al. (2022). Occupational stress and quality of life among health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Critical Care Medicine (Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie din Targu-Mures), 8(3):182-192. https://doi.org/10.2478/jccm-2022-0012
Wang, Y.Y., Xiong, Y., Zhang, Y., Li, C.Y., Fu, L.L., Luo, H.L., et al. (2022). Compassion fatigue among haemodialysis nurses in public and private hospitals in China. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 28(1):e13011. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijn.13011
Zimet, G.D., Dahlem, N.W., Zimet, S.G., & Farley, G.K. (1988). The multidimensional scale of perceived social support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1):30-41. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5201_2
Zyga, S., Alikari, V., Sachlas, A., Fradelos, E.C., Stathoulis, J., Panoutsopoulos, G., et al. (2015). Assessment of fatigue in end stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis: Prevalence and associated factors. Medical Archives, 69(6):376-380. https://doi.org/10.5455/medarh.2015.69.376-380