Bibliometric profile of the African Academy of Sciences medical and health sciences fellows.

The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) is the preeminent science academy on the African continent, but there is currently no information on the academic productivity of the fellowship members. This study investigated the bibliometric parameters of the AAS medical and health sciences fellows. The demographic information (year of induction, gender, and region of employment in Africa) of the 80 medical and health sciences fellows were obtained from the AAS website. Subsequently, the bibliometric information (total number of publications, H-index scores, citation, and co-authorship counts) were extracted from the Scopus database. The majority of the fellows were from the East (36%) and West (33%) African regions (χ2 = p < 0.001); the North (6%) and Central (4%) regions were vastly underrepresented. Although only 34% of the AAS fellows were women, there was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) in the bibliometric parameters of both genders. The year of induction as a fellow and region of employment in Africa significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the bibliometric parameters. For all the fellows combined, their H-index mean (SD) score is 27.9 (17.0), while the median score for the total number of publications is 100, H-index is 27.5, and the citation and co-authorship count is 2,894 and 446, respectively. The fellows from the West African region had the highest number of publications (Mean = 212), citations (Mean = 9,437), and co-authorship count (Mean = 975), and the South African fellows had the highest H-index score (Mean = 40.8). The data presented provide insight into the bibliometric productivity of African scientists compared with their peers from other science academies around the world. Similarly, the data may assist burgeoning scientists aspiring to be AAS fellow set realistic goals toward achieving the stipulated H-index benchmarks.

Prevalence and determinants of burnout among physical and occupational therapists.

It is generally speculated that the ongoing changes in the health care system may increase the incidence of burnout among health care providers. The purposes of this cross-sectional study were to determine (1) the prevalence of burnout among physical therapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs), (2) sociodemographic and work-related factors associated with emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal achievement (PA) traits of PTs and OTs. In fall 1998, 169 PTs and 138 OTs employed in various clinical settings in New York City completed the survey. Part I of the research questionnaire solicited sociodemographic and work-related information such as age, marital status, number of children (NC), religious affiliation (RA), exercise habits, level of support from supervisor (LSS), and level of support from colleagues (LSC). Part II of the questionnaire contained the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). From the MBI, each subject's EE, DP, and PA scores were obtained. The data were analyzed with oneway analysis of variance and linear, multiple, and stepwise regression models to determine the relative and combined contributions of the independent (sociodemographic and work-related) variables toward predicting EE, DP, and PA. Overall the MBI scores revealed high (28.9 +/- 6.8) EE, high (18.3 +/- 4.7) DP, and low (18.0 +/- 7.0) PA. The contribution of sociodemographic and work-related variables toward the prediction of EE (26.7%), DP (12.8%) and PA (19.8%) was minimal. Of the 20 independent variables examined in this study, only 3 (LSS, NC and RA) were viable predictors of EE. The only viable predictor of PA trait was LSC. None of the variables examined accurately predicted DP trait. The EE, DP, and PA scores of the PTs and OTs in this study were higher than the norms reported in previous studies for the general population and other human service professionals, including PTs and OTs. The findings suggest the need for reorganization of the work environment to address the stressors responsible for burnout in this cohort of therapists.