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Objective: We evaluated the psychological distress of medical doctor using a 6-item instrument (the K6) in Kagawa prefecture, Japan. Methods: A total of 284 medical doctors (236 men and 48 women) were analyzed in a cross-sectional investigation study. The association between psychological distress and clinical factors were evaluated by the K6 instrument, with psychological distress defined as 13 or more points out of a total of 24 points. Results: A total of 17 doctors (6.0%) as defined as psychological distress. The significant relationships between the K6 score and age, experience duration as clinician were not noted. The K6 score in subjects with consciousness of suicide was significantly higher than that without. In addition, the K6 score in subjects without cooperation with specialists was higher than those without, but not at a significant level. Conclusions: Some factors i.e. consciousness of suicide and cooperation with specialists might be associated with psychological distress, as assessed by the K6 instrument, in medical doctor in Kagawa prefecture, Japan.
Suzue et al. (2011) studied this question.