Skip Navigation


Health Education Research Advance Access originally published online on January 25, 2006
Health Education Research 2006 21(4):501-507; doi:10.1093/her/cyh076
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
21/4/501    most recent
cyh076v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Holt, J.
Right arrow Articles by Del Mar, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Holt, J.
Right arrow Articles by Del Mar, C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Reducing occupational psychological distress: a randomized controlled trial of a mailed intervention

Jackie Holt1,* and Chris Del Mar2

1 PO Box 313, Cotton Tree, Queensland 4558, Australia
2 Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Qld, 4229 Australia

*Correspondence to: J. Holt. E-mail: ripplemakers{at}bigpond.com

There are increasing levels of psychological distress among general practitioners (GPs). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a mailed intervention to reduce distress among ‘at-risk’ GPs. A questionnaire was sent to 1356 GPs from eight Divisions of General Practice. Out of 819 (60%) who responded, 233 GPs were recruited with scores indicative of psychological distress. These GPs were randomized to intervention (n = 120) or control (n = 113). The intervention consisted of a simple letter feeding back and interpreting the psychological score together with a self-help sheet. During the study, an educational program was offered to GPs by Divisions of General Practice. The main outcome measure used was changes in psychological distress (General Health Questionnaire 12) score after 3 months. Significance was set at P < 0.05. Initial analysis of the data showed borderline significance (P = 0.05). However, analysis of the data post hoc excluding GPs who participated in the educational program showed a significant reduction in psychological distress (P = 0.03). It appears that there may have been a dilution of the intervention effect. Mailed interventions are a cost-effective way of reaching at-risk GPs and may contribute to a reduction in psychological morbidity.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.