Biomedical subjects

R Rugulies

Publications and source records attributed to R Rugulies.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Burnout as a predictor of self-reported sickness absence among human service workers: prospective findings from three year follow up of the PUMA study.

AIM: To investigate whether burnout predicts sickness absence days and sickness absence spells in human service workers. METHOD: A total of 824 participants from an ongoing prospective study in different human service sector organisations were eligible for the three year follow up analysis. Burnout was measured with the work related burnout scale of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Sickness absence was measured with self-reported number of days and spells during the last 12 months before the baseline and the follow up survey. A Poisson regression model with a scale parameter was used to account for over dispersion. A linear regression model was used for analysing changes in burnout and absence between baseline and follow up. RESULTS: Burnout was prospectively associated with both sickness absence days and sickness absence spells per year. Differences in sickness absence days varied from a mean of 5.4 days per year in the lowest quartile of the work related burnout scale to a mean of 13.6 in the highest quartile. An increase of one standard deviation on the work related burnout scale predicted an increase of 21% in sickness absence days per year (rate ratio 1.21, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.32) after adjusting for gender, age, organisation, socioeconomic status, lifestyle factors, family status, having children under 7 years of age, and prevalence of diseases. Regarding sickness absence spells, an increase of one standard deviation on the work related burnout scale predicted an increase of 9% per year (rate ratio 1.09, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.17). Changes in burnout level from baseline to follow up were positively associated with changes in sickness absence days (estimate 1.94 days/year, SE 0.63) and sickness absence spell (estimate 0.34 spells/year, SE 0.08). CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that burnout predicts sickness absence. Reducing burnout is likely to reduce sickness absence.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

[Evaluation of physician-accompanied vacation trips for heart patients ("heart vacation trips"). Participants' satisfaction and long term impact on health related quality of life].

Physician-accompanied vacation trips for heart patients (so-called "heart vacations trips") have been offered since 1981 and have been regulated by guidelines by the German Society of Prevention and Rehabilitation of Cardiovascular Diseases since 1993. The goal of this evaluation is to assess the satisfaction of the participants and to analyze the long-term impact on health-related quality of life. Between October 1995 and May 1998, 22 vacation trips with 228 participants were evaluated. Satisfaction with the vacation trips was assessed by a questionnaire specifically designed for this study. Health-related quality of life was measured with 5 discrete scales from the standardized and validated instrument "Profile of Quality of Life for the Chronically Ill" ("physical capacity", "ability to enjoy and relax", "positive mood", "absence of negative mood", "sociability"). The proportion of satisfied or very satisfied participants ranged from 81 % (accommodations) to 94 % (physician care). Regarding health-related quality of life, significant or borderline significant improvements were observed on three of the five scales (ability to enjoy and relax: p = 0.02, positive mood: p = 0.001, physical capacity: p = 0.08). Stratified analyses showed improvements for younger participants (< or = 70 years) on all five quality of life scales, whereas no statistically significant improvement was found for older participants. Participants who had a cardiovascular disease other than coronary heart disease showed significant improvements on four scales, whereas participants with coronary heart disease only showed an increase on the scale "positive mood". This evaluation shows that physician-accompanied vacation trips were assessed very positively by the participants and that these trips are associated with long-term improvement in health-related quality of life for specific groups of participants.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1997

[Quality of life in advanced coronary heart disease].

The integration of aspects of health-related quality of life (QL) into diagnosis, therapy and rehabilitation of patients with advanced coronary artery disease (CAD), especially with therapy-resistant angina pectoris, is important for at least two reasons. First, restrictions in patients QL often confronts the treating cardiologist with problems which could be overcome by a more comprehensive, psychosocially oriented intervention approach. Secondly, reduced QL was shown to have a negative impact on the course of CAD and on survival. Both aspects are discussed with reference to current scientific evidence, including our own study on effects of a comprehensive lifestyle change on QL in CAD patients.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1996

[Comprehensive life style changes by coronary patients--an intervention study].

In an intervention trial 31 coronary patients participated in a comprehensive lifestyle change program and 43 control patients received the usual care of the conventional cardiac rehabilitation system. First preliminary findings show that the patients in the intervention group not only improved their health related lifestyle but also increased their exercise capacity and reduced depression, while there was no substantial improvement in the control group. Up to the present, the existing data indicate that German heart patients are able to make comprehensive lifestyle changes and that these changes have positive effects on biomedical and psychosocial variables.

Adult↗