Patients in permanent vegetative or minimally conscious states: A literature review of the psychological and health impacts on healthcare personnel.

BACKGROUND: To address the quality of life of patients in Permanent Vegetative or Minimally Conscious States, the occupational health of those around them must also be taken into account. OBJECTIVE: By analyzing how the available scientific literature has addressed this issue, this study seeks to better understand how caring for these patients affects healthcare professionals' psychological and health status. METHODS: We identified and selected 15 publications from both Anglophone and Francophone databases, i.e., Cairn, Francis, HAL, PsycINFO, PubMed, ResearchGate and ScienceDirect. RESULTS: The reviewed publications and studies highlight the difficulties healthcare professionals face with regard to the relationship with patients and their families. Two studies in particular suggest that the difficulties these professionals experience daily can lead to burnout. Other potential burnout factors include the healthcare profession category, the work environment, lack of training and the time spent working with this specific group of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our literature review highlights the institutional and personal resources that may prevent these occupational risks. It also provides avenues for future research.

Systematic comparative content analysis of 17 psychosocial work environment questionnaires using a new taxonomy.

BACKGROUND: Many questionnaires have been developed to measure how psychosocial characteristics are perceived in a work environment. But the content validity of these questionnaires has rarely been questioned due to the absence of a reference taxonomy for characteristics of work environments. OBJECTIVES: To propose an exhaustive taxonomy of work environment characteristics involved in psychosocial risks and to apply this taxonomy to questionnaires on workplace psychosocial factors. METHODS: The taxonomy was developed by categorizing factors present in the main theoretical models of the field. Questionnaire items most frequently cited in scientific literature were retained for classification. RESULTS: The taxonomy was structured into four hierarchical levels and comprises 53 categories. The 17 questionnaires analyzed included 927 items: 59 from the "physical environment" category, 116 from the "social environment" category, 236 from the "work activity" category, 255 from the "activity management" category, and 174 from the "organizational context" category. CONCLUSIONS: There are major content differences among analyzed questionnaires. This study offers a means for selecting a scale on the basis of content.