[The suffering surgeon-How do German surgeons protect themselves? : Survey of the German Society of General and Visceral Surgery on the extent of occupational safety measures and health burden among German surgeons].

Abstract

Background: There are few data on how surgeons implement occupational safety measures to protect their own health and how they assess their subjective health burden.

Objective: In times of a shortage of surgeons it makes sense to examine these relationships in order to evaluate future-oriented adjustments to increase the attractiveness of the profession of "surgeon".

Material and methods: An online questionnaire was sent to the registered members of the German Society for General and Visceral Surgery (DGAV) in October 2016. The members were asked about the application of occupational safety measures, individual living conditions, working conditions and the subjective health burden depending on the level of training and type of hospital (basic, standard, maximum care).

Results: The response rate was 21% (1065/5011). Occupational safety measures were not strictly implemented: routine use of dosimeters, thyroid radiation protection, smoke extraction and protective goggles only took place in 40% (427/1065), 39% (411/1065), 10% (104/1065) and 5% (55/1065), respectively. The majority of surgeons (51%, 548/1065) rated their lifestyle as unhealthy. The majority of them are senior physicians, 46% (250/548) consider their job to be a health hazard. The proportion of chief physicians and assistant physicians is only 21% (115/548) and 18% (98/548).

Conclusion: Guidelines for standardizing the perioperative protection of German surgeons are desirable. Health-promoting behavior could have a positive effect on the occupational safety of surgeons and ultimately also on patient safety. This can contribute to increasing the attractiveness of the profession "surgeon" in the long term.