To prevent being stressed-out: Allostatic overload and resilience of general practitioners in the era of COVID-19. A cross-sectional observational study.

Background: Responsibility of general practitioners (GPs) in delivering safe and effective care is always high but during the COVID-19 pandemic they face even growing pressure that might result in unbearable stress load (allostatic overload, AO) leading to disease.

Objectives: We aimed to measure AO of Hungarian GPs during the COVID-19 pandemic and explore their recreational resources to identify potential protective factors against stress load.

Methods: In a mixed-method design, Fava's clinimetric approach to AO was applied alongside the Psychosocial Index (PSI); Kellner's symptom questionnaire (SQ) to measure depression, anxiety, hostility and somatisation and the Public Health Surveillance Well-being Scale (PHS-WB) to determine mental, social, and physical well-being.