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Optimism in health workers and its relationship with quality of life, burnout syndrome, and organizational environment

Abstract:

Objectives: To identify self-reported levels of optimism in hospital health workers and to study its relationship with health-related quality of life, burnout syndrome, and the hospital's organizational environment. Patients and method: We performed an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study in a sample of 1,086 hospital health workers. The level of optimism was quantified through a visual analog scale from 0 (not at all optimistic) to 10 (totally optimistic) in which the workers responded to the question "Do you consider yourself to be an optimistic person?" The optimism score was codified so that levels from 0 to 5 were considered to indicate a low level of optimism, values from 6 to 8 to indicate medium levels of optimism, and scores of 9 and 10 to indicate a high level of optimism. The relationship between optimism and the hospital's organizational environment, burnout syndrome (Maslach Burnout Inventory), and health-related quality of life (SF-36 health questionnaire) was studied. Results: The median level of optimism was 7 with a 25th percentile of 6 and 75th percentile of 8. A total of 19.2% were classified as having a low level of optimism and 18% as having a high level of optimism. High levels of optimism corresponded to better quality of life in all aspects of the SF-36, lower levels of occupational burnout and a more favorable perception of the organizational environment. Conclusions: The health workers' self-evaluation tended toward high scores for optimism. Better results were found in the three scales measured when optimism was higher. Optimism is a factor that should be taken into account in studies evaluating perceived health and occupational burnout.