Abstract
BackgroundOccupational burnout is an unwanted outcome of chronic workplace stressors which may be emotional or interpersonal. Chronic exposure to human suffering and long working hours have contributed to greater job stress and early burnout among healthcare providers. This study utilized the abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory (aMBI) to gauge the extent of overall burnout and on three subscales – perspective taking, compassionate care, and walking in patients' shoes – among interns, postgraduate trainees, and physicians of internal medicine.Materials and methodsIn this cross-sectional study, 71 internal medicine doctors – 40 interns, 22 postgraduate trainees, and nine physicians – completed aMBI with informed consent. It is a nine-item scale with three subscales – emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA). Each subscale has three items that are marked on a seven-point Likert scale. Higher scores of EE and DP indicate higher burnout, and a higher score of PA indicates lower burnout. Overall burnout was taken as the sum of EE and DP. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS v. 22.Results There were 23 (32.4%) male and 48 (67.5%) female doctors with a mean age of 24.25 ± 13.17 years. The mean score of overall burnout was 22.51 ± 6.07 (range: 0–36) and PA was 15.35 ± 1.82 (range: 0–18). Overall moderate to high burnout was seen in 33.8% of doctors. On an individual subscale, 47.8% had high EE, 24% had high DP, and 25.4% reported high burnout on PA. Overall burnout had a statistically significant correlation with the marital status of the doctors, their working hours per week, their average on-call days per week, and their level of expertise.ConclusionThere is a high degree of burnout among internal medicine physicians. Working hours and the number of on-call days per week were significant predicting factors. Interns reported the highest frequency of burnout.
Highlights
The phenomenon of occupational burnout was first studied in 1970s
In this cross-sectional study, 71 internal medicine doctors – 40 interns, 22 postgraduate trainees, and nine physicians – completed abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory (aMBI) with informed consent. It is a nine-item scale with three subscales – emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA)
There is a high degree of burnout among internal medicine physicians
Summary
The phenomenon of occupational burnout was first studied in 1970s. It has taken under its umbrella a wide range of emotions including exasperation, irritation, anger, and hopelessness which results in negative and dismissive attitude towards the occupation and people related to it. Burnout has been studied among practitioners of healthcare at all levels including medical students, nurses, interns, postgraduate trainees, and special care providers [2,3,4,5]. Healthcare is a noble and rewarding profession, but chronic exposure to human suffering and long working hours have contributed to greater job stress and early burnout among the healthcare providers [1]. Chronic exposure to human suffering and long working hours have contributed to greater job stress and early burnout among healthcare providers. This study utilized the abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory (aMBI) to gauge the extent of overall burnout and on three subscales – perspective taking, compassionate care, and walking in patients' shoes – among interns, postgraduate trainees, and physicians of internal medicine
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