ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The prevalence of burnout, psychological morbidity and the use of coping mechanisms among palliative care practitioners in Singapore have not been studied. AIM: We aimed to study the prevalence of burnout and psychological morbidity among palliative care practitioners in Singapore and its associations with demographic and workplace factors as well as the use of coping mechanisms. DESIGN: This was a multi-centre, cross-sectional study of all the palliative care providers within the public healthcare sector in Singapore. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: The study was conducted in hospital palliative care services, home hospice and inpatient hospices in Singapore. The participants were doctors, nurses and social workers. RESULTS: The prevalence of burnout among respondents in our study was 91 of 273 (33.3%) and psychological morbidity was 77 (28.2%). Working >60 h per week was significantly associated with burnout (odds ratio: 9.02, 95% confidence interval: 2.3-35.8, p = 0.002) and psychological morbidity (odds ratio: 7.21, 95% confidence interval: 1.8-28.8, p = 0.005). Home hospice care practitioners (41.5%) were more at risk of developing psychological morbidity compared to hospital-based palliative care (17.5%) or hospice inpatient care (26.0%) (p = 0.007). Coping mechanisms like physical well-being, clinical variety, setting boundaries, transcendental (meditation and quiet reflection), passion for one's work, realistic expectations, remembering patients and organisational activities were associated with less burnout. CONCLUSION: Our results reveal that burnout and psychological morbidity are significant in the palliative care community and demonstrate a need to look at managing long working hours and promoting the use of coping mechanisms to reduce burnout and psychological morbidity.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Burnout, Professional/epidemiology , Burnout, Professional/psychology , Palliative Care/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Burnout, Professional/prevention & control , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Hospice Care/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Job Satisfaction , Male , Middle Aged , Palliative Care/psychology , Prospective Studies , Singapore/epidemiology , Stress, Psychological , WorkloadABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Hair loss is seen as an irreversible process. Most research concentrates on how to elongate the anagen, reduce the negative factors of obstructing hair growth and improve the hair number and size. AIM: In our experiment, we tried to prove that the cow placenta extract can promote hair growth by elongating hair shaft and increasing hair follicle number. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cow placenta extract (CPE), water and minoxidil applied separately on the back of depilated B57CL/6 mice for the case, negative and positive control respectively. We checked the proliferation of cells which are resident in hair sheath, and the expression of a few growth factors which stimulate hair growth. RESULTS: Result shows that placenta extract more efficiently accelerates cell division and growth factor expression, by raising the insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) mRNA and protein level to increase HF size and hair length. CONCLUSIONS: The extract is not a purified product; so, it is less effective than minoxidil, which is approved by the US FDA for the treatment of male pattern baldness. If refinement is done, the placenta extract would be a good candidate medicine for hair loss.
