Burnout and Stress Among Residents in Four Gulf Cooperation Council Countries Using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory and Stress Overload Scale-Short Form

Abstract

Physician burnout and stress can have consequential effects on healthcare services and are a leading cause for medical errors and lower quality of care. This is the first study to assess the prevalence rates and associated variables for burnout and stress levels of medical residents in four Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries by combining the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and Stress Overload Scale-Short Form (SOS-S) as assessment tools. A cross-sectional, quantitative research method design using an online survey. This online survey was distributed to second year and above medical residents training in tertiary healthcare centres in four GCC countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman). Eligible residents (n = 16,686) were recruited via convenience sampling. Out of 2,886 respondents, 996 responses were excluded due to incomplete information. The data was collected from 13th September 2020 to 15th November 2020. Of 1,890 included medical residents, 961 (50.8%) were females, and the mean (SD) age was 29.5 (3.2) years old. Personal burnout prevalence rates were the highest, followed by work-related and patient-related burnout (98.4%, 97.8%, and 79.3%, respectively). Arab and Kuwait Board residents had the highest rates of burnout across all domains. Stress overload scores were high with 51.6% of residents at high risk for illness, with Saudi Board residents most likely to be at high risk and Oman Medical Specialty Board residents at low risk. Burnout predictors included: no access to a wellness programme (p = 0.000), longer shifts (p = 0.000), high personal vulnerability (p = 0.000), and intention to leave (p = 0.05). Our findings show that burnout and stress rates are high for GCC residents, suggesting a significant problem for residents to provide the highest quality of healthcare possible. Further research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of residency wellness interventions to address this issue.