Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Dec 18, 2022; 13(12): 1056-1063
Published online Dec 18, 2022. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v13.i12.1056
Occupational injuries and burn out among orthopedic oncology surgeons
Abdulrahman M Alaseem, Robert E Turcotte, Nathalie Ste-Marie, Mohammad M Alzahrani, Saad M Alqahtani, Krista A Goulding
Abdulrahman M Alaseem, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh 12372, Saudi Arabia
Robert E Turcotte, Nathalie Ste-Marie, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal H4A3J1, Canada
Mohammad M Alzahrani, Saad M Alqahtani, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal university, Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia
Krista A Goulding, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Arizona 85054, USA
Author contributions: Alaseem AM, Turcotte RE, Alzahrani MM, Al-Qahtani SM, Goulding KA contribute to study design; Alaseem AM, Turcotte RE, Ste-Marie N, Alzahrani MM, Al-Qahtani SM, Goulding KA contribute to manuscript preparation; Turcotte RE, Alzahrani MM, Al-Qahtani SM, Goulding KA contribute to methodology; Ste-Marie N contribute tostatistical analysis.
Institutional review board statement: This was a survey study and institutional review board was not required for this study.
Informed consent statement: This study is a survey and informed consent was not required.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: Raw data and material are available as needed.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Mohammad M Alzahrani, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal university, King Faisal Road, Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia. mmalzahrani@iau.edu.sa
Received: September 17, 2022
Peer-review started: September 17, 2022
First decision: October 12, 2022
Revised: October 12, 2022
Accepted: November 29, 2022
Article in press: November 29, 2022
Published online: December 18, 2022
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Orthopedic oncology surgeons commonly perform complex and prolonged surgical. This places the surgeon at increased risk of not only physical but also psychological stressors.

Research motivation

The effect of these physical and mental burdens on both the surgeon and healthcare system has not been adequately studied.

Research objectives

We aimed to explore occupational injuries among orthopedic oncology surgeons, especially prevalence, characteristics and their effect on practice.

Research methods

A modified version of the physical discomfort web-based survey was used to determine prevalence and patterns of occupational injuries among orthopedic oncology and this survey was sent to multiple orthopedic oncology societies.

Research results

The overall prevalence of occupational injury among our surgeon cohort was 84% (musculoskeletal 76%; psychological 50%; and both 43%). Low back pain was the most prevalent musculoskeletal conditions and burnout was the most prevalent psychological disorder. Old age and years in practice were associated with requirement of time off work.

Research conclusions

We found a high prevalence of occupational injuries in orthopedic oncologists, with a large proportion of them requiring time off due to these injuries.

Research perspectives

Future research should be directed towards exploring strategies directed at decreasing the prevalence of these injuries through improved ergonomics and optimized working environments to minimize stress associated with the workplace.