Assessment of the Surgeon's Quality of Life at Yala Hospital

Abstract

Background: In Thailand, the public health sector focuses on quality of life, and the discharge rate for physicians is high. There is little research on the quality of life of surgeons today.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the quality of life of surgeons working in Yala Hospital.

Material and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study in a group of surgeons at Yala Hospital using WHOQOL- BREF- THAI, WHOQOL-26 questionnaires from December 1, 2022 to January 20, 2023.

Results: Thirty-three surgeons with an average age of 38 years participated in this study. Ten women (30.30%) and 23 men (69.70%) showed an intermediate level of the general quality of life and a high level in the social domain. According to the analysis in each domain: in the environmental domain, married surgeons performed better than single ones (P=0.03). Surgeons who took vocation 1-2 times per year performed better in the psychological and social domains than those who did not (P=0.01 and P=0.04, respectively). In the social and environmental domains, surgeons who chose to relocate the hospital performed poorly (P=0.05 and P=0.01, respectively). Other group members who intended to leave the hospital also performed poorly in the environmental domain.

Conclusion: Vacation time was associated with a higher score in the psychological and social domains. However, marital status was associated with a better score in the environmental domain. Lack of social and environmental domain may be associated with the frequency of moving and resignation. However, the quality of life of surgeons in Yala Hospital was comparable to that of the general population.