Network analysis of occupational stress and job satisfaction among radiologists.

Background: Occupational stress and job satisfaction significantly impact the well-being and performance of healthcare professionals, including radiologists. Understanding the complex interplay between these factors through network analysis can provide valuable insights into intervention strategies to enhance workplace satisfaction and productivity. Method: In this study, a convenience sampling method was used to recruit 312 radiologists for participation. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, job satisfaction measured by the Minnesota job satisfaction questionnaire revised short version (MJSQ-RSV), and occupational stress assessed using the occupational stress scale. Network analysis was employed to analyze the data in this study. Results: The network analysis revealed intricate patterns of associations between occupational stress and job satisfaction symptoms among radiologists. Organizational management and occupational interests emerged as crucial nodes in the network, indicating strong relationships within these domains. Additionally, intrinsic satisfaction was identified as a central symptom with high connectivity in the network structure. The stability analysis demonstrated robustness in the network edges and centrality metrics, supporting the reliability of the findings. Conclusion: This study sheds light on the complex relationships between occupational stress and job satisfaction in radiologists, offering valuable insights for targeted interventions and support strategies to promote well-being and job satisfaction in healthcare settings.

Myocardial extracellular volume fraction quantitation using cardiac dual-energy CT with late iodine enhancement in patients with heart failure without coronary artery disease: A single-center prospective study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the relationship between myocardial extracellular volume (ECV) fraction measured using dual-energy computed tomography with late iodine enhancement (LIE-DECT) and risk of heart failure (HF) in patients without coronary artery disease (CAD), and to evaluate the relationship between ECV and left ventricular structure and function. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty consecutive HF patients without CAD and 60 consecutive participants without heart disease who underwent coronary CT angiography (CCTA) following LIE-DECT were included. ECV of the left ventricle was calculated from the iodine maps and hematocrit levels using the American Heart Association (AHA) 16-segment model. Cardiac structural and functional parameters were collected including left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left atrial volume (LAV), interventricular septal thickness (IVST), and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP). RESULTS: ECV in HF patients without CAD (31.3 ±â€¯4.0 %) was significantly higher than that in healthy subjects (27.1 ±â€¯3.7 %) (P < 0.001). Multivariate linear analysis revealed that ECV was associated with age (ß = 0.098, P = 0.010) and hypertension (ß = 2.093, P = 0.011) in all participants. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and drinking, ECV was a risk factor affecting the occurrence of HF in those without CAD (OR = 1.356, 95 %CI：1.178-1.561, P < 0.001). A positive correlation was found between ECV and NT-pro-BNP, LVEDV, LVESV, and LAV (r = 0.629, 0.329, 0.346, and 0.338, respectively; all P < 0.001) in all participants. CONCLUSIONS: ECV could be measured using LIE-DECT iodine maps. ECV elevation was a risk factor for HF without CAD and correlated with cardiac structure and function.

The correlation between hepatic fat fraction evaluated by dual-energy computed tomography and high-risk coronary plaques in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) evaluated by a hepatic fat fraction (HFF) using dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) and high-risk coronary plaques (HRP) in NAFLD patients. METHODS: We conducted a matched case-control study involving 172 NAFLD individuals recruited from August 2019 to September 2020. They underwent dual-energy coronary computed tomographic angiography and were classified as no-plaque, HRP negative and HRP positive groups. HFF values were measured using multimaterial decomposition algorithm of DECT, and the differences among three groups were compared. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the independent correlation between HFF and HRP. Spearman rank correlation was used to assess the correlations between HFF and multiple variables. RESULTS: HRP positive group (15.3%) had higher HFF values than no-plaque (6.9%) and HRP negative groups (8.9%) (P < 0.001). After adjusting for confounding variables, the results indicated that HFF was an independent risk factor for HRP (OR 1.93, P < 0.001). Additionally, HFF significantly correlated with coronary artery calcium score, hepatic CT attenuation, epicardial and pericoronary adipose tissue volume, and CT attenuation (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: As a new imaging marker for the quantification of liver fat, HFF was independently associated with HRP.

Effects of epicardial adipose tissue volume and density on cardiac structure and function in patients free of coronary artery disease.

PURPOSE: To determine the association of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) volume and density with cardiac geometry and function. METHODS: We included 178 consecutive patients who performed coronary computed tomography angiography but were not diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD). The EAT volume, density, and following cardiac structure and function parameters were measured: left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular mass (LVM), left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), left ventricular stroke volume (LVSV), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), interventricular septal thickness (IVST) and posterior wall thickness (PWT). All the parameters were standardized using the height2.7. RESULTS: A significant correlation was found between larger EAT volume and increased LVM, LVEDV, LVESV, LVSV, LVEDD, IVST and corresponding standardized indexes (P < 0.05 for all). Higher EAT density significantly correlated with increased LVM, LVEDV, LVESV, LVSV, LVEDD, IVST, PWT and corresponding standardized indexes (P < 0.05 for all). The largest cardiac structure and function parameters were observed in the population with above-median EAT volume and density. CONCLUSION: Both large EAT volume and high EAT density were associated with cardiac structure and function in patients with no CAD. The EAT density may render complementary information to EAT volume regarding cardiac geometry changes.