ABC | Volume 113, Nº1, July 2019

Original Article The Profile of the Brazilian Cardiologist – A Sample of Members of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology Lucas Simonetto Faganello, 1 Mauricio Pimentel, 1 C arisi Anne Polanczyk, 1 Tiago Zimerman, 1 Marcus Vinicius Bolivar Malachias, 2 O scar Pereira Dutra, 3 Leandro Ioschpe Zimerman 1 Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, 1 Porto Alegre, RS – Brazil Faculdade de Ciências Médicas de Minas Gerais, 2 Belo Horizonte, MG – Brazil Instituto de Cardiologia – Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia do Rio Grande do Sul, 3 Porto Alegre, RS – Brazil Mailing Address: Leandro Ioschpe Zimerman • Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre - Ramiro Barcelos, 2350. Postal Code 90035-903, Porto Alegre, RS – Brazil E-mail: zimerman@cardiol.br , lizimerman@gmail.com Manuscript received September 12, 2018, revised manuscript October 10, 2018, accepted November 01, 2018 DOI: 10.5935/abc.20190089 Abstract Background: Data from the international literature have shown changes in the profile of cardiologists and in their medical practices. However, there is no data on this in Brazilian cardiologists. Objective: To evaluate professional and personal characteristics of a sample of Brazilian cardiologists. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study; a questionnaire was sent by e-mail to cardiologists, active members of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology in 2017. The results were analyzed, and the level of significance set at p < 0.05. Results: The questionnaire was sent to 13,462 cardiologists, with 2,101 (15.6%) respondents, mostly men (71.8% versus 28.2%). Age distribution and marital status were significantly different between the sexes (p < 0.001). The number of cardiologists without children was higher among women (40.5% versus 16.1%; p < 0.001). The most common place of work was the public hospital (46.5%), followed by private hospital (28.5%) and private office (21.1%). The office was the main place of work for 23.9% of men and 14% of women (p < 0.001), with predominance of individuals older than 50 years (31.7% versus 10.1%, respectively; p < 0.001). Most cardiologists (64.2%) worked more than 40 hours a week (69% of them men and 51.9% of the women; p < 0.001). Eighty-eight percent of the sample earned more than BRL 11,000 (US$ 3,473.43), and 66.5% of the men earned more than BRL 20,000 (US$ 6,315.32) per month, versus 31.2% of the women (p < 0.001). A high level of work-related stress was reported by 11.3% of respondents. Conclusion: Most cardiologists were men, who showed higher workload and higher income; 11.3% of the cardiologists perceived stress as a great deal. (Arq Bras Cardiol. 2019; 113(1):62-68) Keywords: Cardiologists; Survey and Questionnaires; Income; Gender; Demographic Data; Quality of Life. Introduction Medical activity has been associated with high levels of stress and dissatisfaction compared with other occupations. 1 Previous studies have shown that there is a complex relationship between the level of work satisfaction, work-life balance, burnout level, demographic factors and work conditions. 2 The progress of medicine and specialties, especially in the last decades, has promoted rapid chances in personal and professional lives of cardiologists. 3-5 In addition, international data have shown the aging of working classes, with changes in the profile and characteristics of professional activities, but still a predominance of men and a striking difference of salaries between the sexes. 6 However, data on the profile of Brazilian cardiologists and their perceptions of the profession are limited. Therefore, the present study describes the profile of the Brazilian cardiologist from data obtained in the study conducted by the Brazilian Society of Cardiology (BSC), in terms of demographic, social, and professional aspects and quality of life. Methods The BSC developed a questionnaire composed of threemain domains: demographic data, professional activity and quality of life. This questionnairewas sent by e-mail to 13,462 cardiologists, active members of the BSC in 2017. A total of 2,101 participants answered the questionnaire and composed the study group, 1,509 men (71.8%) and 592 women (28.2%). Statistical analysis The variables were expressed as absolute frequency, percentage and 95% confidence interval. Qualitative variables were compared using the chi-square test followed by analysis of adjusted standardized residuals. Analysis of the answers was performed using the SPSS Statistics for Windows version 25.0 (IBM, Chicago). The level of significancewas set at 5% (p<0.05). 62