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Health Education Research Advance Access published online on January 25, 2006
Health Education Research, doi:10.1093/her/cyh076
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received May 31, 2005
Accepted December 19, 2005

Original article

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

Jackie Holt 1 * and Chris Del Mar 2

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

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Jackie Holt, E-mail: ripplemakers{at}bigpond.com


  Abstract

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.


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