Comparison of stress hormones and beck anxiety inventory on intern doctors in emergency department

AIM: In our study, we aimed to investigate the anxiety effect of the working conditions in the emergency departments on the physicians and the hormonal factors playing role in the etiology of this anxiety. MATERIAL AND METHOD: This study was prospectively conducted on 74 interns who worked as a physician candidate in the emergency department between May 1, 2017 - October 31, 2017.The intern doctors were divided into 3 groups who worked in emergency department for 2 months periods. Blood samples were taken from the doctors of the internship at around 07:00 am in the first night shift and the last night shift during the internship. Concurrently, intern doctors were asked to fill out the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). ACTH, ANP and CCK hormones were studied in blood samples. Hormone levels and BAI scores of before and after the internship were compared with each other. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS 22,0 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, Illinois, USA) package program and P <0.05 was considered statistically significant in all comparisons. RESULTS: A total of 74 interns were included in the study as 47,3% (n = 35) male and 52.7% (n = 39) female. Participants' ages ranged from 23 to 27 years. ANC and CCK levels were found to be significantly higher after internship in all of the intern groups, but no significant difference was found between ACTH levels before and after the internship. While BAI scores and ANP levels were significantly higher after internship in male intern doctors, no significant difference was found between ACTH and CCK levels before and after internship. Although the BAI score, ACTH and ANP levels were significantly higher after internship in female intern doctors, there was no significant difference in CCK levels. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Emergency departments are places where stress and anxiety are intensely experienced. All health care personnel, mainly doctors are exposed to this anxiety. In addition to psychotherapy, we can cope with this anxiety by developing a multidisciplinary approach involving hormone-regulating drug treatments. In this multidisciplinary treatment approach, drugs that regulate hormones in the anxiety etiology can be used more effectively KEYWORDS: Intern Doctor, Stress, Anxiety, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Stress Hormoness