Magallón-Botaya, RosaPérula-de Torres, Luis AngelVerdes-Montenegro Atalaya, Juan CarlosPérula-Jiménez, CeliaLietor-Villajos, NorbertoBartolomé-Moreno, CruzGarcia-Campayo, JavierMoreno-Martos, Herminia2023-01-112023-01-112021-02-02Magallón-Botaya R, Pérula-de Torres LA, Verdes-Montenegro Atalaya JC, Pérula-Jiménez C, Lietor-Villajos N, Bartolomé-Moreno C, et al. Mindfulness in primary care healthcare and teaching professionals and its relationship with stress at work: a multicentric cross-sectional study. BMC Fam Pract. 2021 Feb 2;22(1):29http://hdl.handle.net/10668/4575Trial registration: NCT03629457.Background: Work stress is a common problem among the health personnel of the Spanish National Health System. The objective of this paper is to assess the state of mindfulness among Spanish primary care providers and to evaluate its potential relationship with work stress and basic labor and sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: Cross-sectional, multi-centric study. Primary care nurses, teachers, teaching collaborators and residents assigned to six Spanish Family Medicine/Family and Community Care Departments were invited to participate (n = 475). A template was designed in Google Forms, including sociodemographic and work-related variables. The state of mindfulness was measured with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), while work-related stress was measured using an ordinal scale ranging from 0 to 10 points. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were carried out, as well as bivariate and multivariate statistics. Results: The mean age of participants was 40,14 ± 13.12 (range:23–65 years); 66.9% were women, 42.5% internal medicine residents, 29.3% family physicians, and 20.2% nurses. More than half (54.5%) knew about mindfulness, with 24.0% have received training on it, and 22.5% were usual practitioners. The average level of mindfulness was 127.18 ± 15.45 (range: 89–177). The average score of stress at work was 6.00 ± 2.44; 49.9% (range: 0–10). 49.9% of participants scored 7 or more on the stress at work scale. There was an inverse correlation between the levels of mindfulness (FFMQ total score) and work-related stress (Spearman’s r = − 0.155, p = 0.003). Significant relationships between the mindfulness practice and the level of mindfulness (F = 29.80, p < 0.001), as well as between the mindfulness practice and the level of work-related stress (F = 9.68, p = 0.042), were also found. Conclusions: Levels of mindfulness in primary care health providers were in line with those levels observed in other groups of health professionals. Half of all of the primary care providers suffered from a high degree of stress. Although weak, inverse relationships were observed between levels of mindfulness and stress at work, with lower values of stress at work among those who practiced mindfulness.enAtribución 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/MindfulnessWork stressSubjective well-beingPrimary health care professionalsHealth services researchAtención plenaEstrés laboralSatisfacción personalAtención primaria de saludInvestigación sobre servicios de saludMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::AdultMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::Adult::AgedMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Epidemiologic Study Characteristics as Topic::Epidemiologic Studies::Cross-Sectional StudiesMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Health Services Administration::Patient Care Management::Delivery of Health CareMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Eukaryota::Animals::Chordata::Vertebrates::Mammals::Primates::Haplorhini::Catarrhini::Hominidae::HumansMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::Adult::Middle AgedMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Health Services Administration::Patient Care Management::Comprehensive Health Care::Primary Health CareMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation::Quality of Health Care::Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms::Data Collection::QuestionnairesMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::Adult::Young AdultMedical Subject Headings::Psychiatry and Psychology::Psychological Phenomena and Processes::Mental Processes::MindfulnessMedical Subject Headings::Psychiatry and Psychology::Psychological Phenomena and Processes::Psychophysiology::Stress, Psychologicalresearch article33530929open access10.1186/s12875-021-01375-21471-2296PMC7856795