RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: Medical professionals are exposed to many job stressors everyday, which can lead to psychological disturbances as well as burnout syndrome. We sought to assess the level of burnout among primary care physicians (PCPs) in Oman and explore risk factors for its development. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, analytical study among a random cluster sample of 190 PCP working in Muscat, Oman. Indices of burnout (emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and personal accomplishment (PA)) were noted using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS). We also used a questionnaire to obtain sociodemographic and job characteristics data. We used a binary logistic regression model and both unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of burnout in all three dimensions was 6.3%. High levels of MBI-HSS subscales were reported on EE, DP and PA with 17.8%, 38.2%, and 21.5%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed that working over 40 hours per week was the most important risk factor for burnout among PCPs. CONCLUSIONS: A total of 6.3% of PCPs working in urban areas in Oman suffered burnout. Long working hours was strongly associated with high occupational burnout. Solutions to eliminate or decrease the rate of burnout involve institutional changes, primarily respecting weekly working hours, and in more severe cases psychotherapy help is very important.
RESUMEN
1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is an environmental toxin which selectively induces oxidative damage and mitochondrial and proteasomal dysfunctions to dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra leading to Parkinsonian syndrome in animal models and humans. MPTP is one of the most widely used in vitro models to investigate the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) and, screen for novel therapeutic compounds that can slow down or ameliorate this progressive degenerative disease. We investigated the therapeutic effect of pomegranate juice extracts (PJE), Helow, Malasi, Qusum, and Hamadh against MPTP-induced neurotoxicity in primary human neurons by examining extracellular LDH activity, intracellular NAD(+) and ATP levels, and endogenous antioxidant levels including lipid peroxidation products, catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities, and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels. MPTP induced a reduction in SOD and GPx activities and intracellular NAD(+), ATP, and GSH levels parallel to an increase in extracellular LDH and CAT activities, although lipid peroxidation was not altered. We report that helow and malasi can ameliorate MPTP-induced neurotoxicity by attenuating the observed changes in redox function to a greater extent than qusum and hamedh. Selected PJE varieties may exhibit properties which may be of therapeutic value to slow down age-related degeneration and neurodegeneration in particular.