Very few studies have been concerned with assessing the prevalence of burnout and depressive symptoms, especially during an infectious outbreak on non-frontline health care workers, such as a psychiatrist. In such instances, the role of psychiatrists and other mental health providers as a source of psychological support to the public and frontline workers is indispensable and valuable. This study aims to assess the prevalence of burnout and depressive symptoms, and their correlation, during the COVID-19 pandemic among psychiatry residents in Saudi Arabia. A total of 121 out of 150 psychiatry residents in Saudi Arabia completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory and Patient’s Health Questionnaire for the assessment of burnout and depressive symptoms. Burnout symptoms were found in 27.3%, and another 27.3% reported having depression symptoms. In addition, 16.5% reported having both burnout and depressive symptoms, with a significant relationship between them. Participants in the first 2 years of training and having a history of receiving mental health treatment in the past 2 years were at higher risk. The need is urgent to increase investment in mental health services and to construct a plan to reduce this risk of burnout and depression among psychiatrists by developing preventative strategies to prevent burnout and promote wellness is more important than ever.

Kumar AM S, et al. Investig Clin Urol. 2024 Nov;65(6):527-539. https://doi.org/10.4111/icu.20240229

J Indian Prosthodont Soc, Official publication of Indian Prosthodontic Society

There is a shortage of urology residents in the KSA, and patients may have to wait for nearly three months to seek medical consultation with qualified urologists. According to the literature, urology residents face work-related burnout, which may affect the quality of health services provided to Saudi patients. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of work-related burnout among urology residents in KSA. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among Saudi urology residents using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), which includes personal, work, and patient-related burnouts. The survey was electronically sent to urology residents registered with the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS). Data were analysed using the SPSS program. Of the 247 selected residents, 215 (87.04%) completed the questionnaire. Concerning personal burnout, 12.6% reported ‘always feeling tired’, 13% ‘always physically exhausted’, and 19.1% reported being ‘always emotionally exhausted’. In addition, approximately 14% described the work as emotionally exhausting to a very high degree, while 18.6% added that they felt burnt out because of the work to a very high degree. According to the CBI, the mean personal burnout was 57.92, while the mean work-related burnout was 55.26. Urology residents in KSA suffer from a high degree of burnout, and urgent interventions are essential to make their work-life balance less exhausting.

Abstract: From the moment the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic disease, COVID-19 began to affect the lives of many healthcare providers worldwide. In response to this pandemic, urology departments and training residency programs implemented urgent measures to reduce outpatient clinics, adopted the use of telemedicine, regulated emergency and outpatient urological procedures, promoted the use of operating theatres, and developed the use of sustainable e-learning alternatives to traditional urology educational activities. We reviewed the response of urologists in Saudi Arabia to the COVID-19 pandemic and how they react to the emerging pandemic both for patients and for healthcare of urologist personnel.

Purpose: This study has been conducted to identify the rate of varicocele recurrence in patients who underwent microscopic subinguinal varicocelectomy at our center. We also aimed to determine the contributing factors to varicocele recurrence. Patients and Methods: A total of 34 married male patients who underwent microscopic sub-inguinal varicocelectomy were retrospectively included in this study. The medical records of recruited patients were reviewed. The diagnosis of varicocele was based on physical examination, while recurrent varicocele was diagnosed based on both physical examination and colored doppler ultrasound. We investigated contributing factors to varicocele recurrence, including demographic characteristics (such as body mass index), clinical (varicocele grade and size of dilated veins), and laboratory data (semen analysis). Patients were followed up at 3 and 6 months after surgery. Results: The mean age of patients was 32.53 years. The majority of patients had left-sided varicocele (70.6%) and underwent surgery due to scrotal pain (82.4%), with a mean operation duration of 92 minutes. Left-sided varicoceles were grade II in 51.7% of patients, while right-sided varicoceles were grade II in 16.1% of patients. Recurrence occurred in 2.9% after 3 and 6 months. Pain recurred in 8.8% and 10.5% of patients at 3 and 6 months, respectively. Pregnancy rates were 44.1% at 3 months and 11.8% at 6 months after surgery. The grade of varicocele (P = 0.24) and the size of the left dilated vein (P = 0.002) was significantly associated with recurrence. Conclusion: There was a significant association of advanced grade on the left side and large vein diameter before and after surgery with an increased rate of recurrence; however, due to the small sample size of our study, more and larger studies are still warranted.