Burnout in medical professionals working in a tertiary care hospital: A re-analysis of the data

Abstract

Background: Burnout is highly prevalent among medical professionals. The three dimensions of burnout, i.e., emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA) often co-exist and have been found to negatively affecting professionalism. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of burnout in terms of three dimensions of Maslach burnout inventory (MBI) and to explore the correlates of the same among the doctors. Methodology: An online survey questionnaire was circulated among the medical professionals (residents and senior consultants/faculty) of a tertiary care hospital of North India to evaluate burnout, depression, stress, and internet addiction (IA). Results: The survey included data of 445 responders, of whom 376 (84.5%) were resident doctors and 69 (15.5%) were faculty members in the institute. Based on the suggested cutoffs, 79.1% of the participants (n = 352) reported moderate-to-high level of EE, 59.55% of the participants reported experiencing moderate-to-high level of DP, and 7.0% of the participants (n = 31) reported of having low PA. Burnout in any one dimension of MBI was seen in 30.6% (n = 136), in two dimensions in 50.6% (n = 225), and in all the three dimensions in 10.8% (n = 48). Highest level of EE and DP and low PA were reported by participants from the specialty of pediatrics, and this was followed by internal medicine. Participants with high EE and high DP were significantly younger, were more often females, and had significantly higher average number of working hours per week. All the three domains of burnout were associated with the presence of depression and perceived stress and significantly higher scores on Young IA scale. Linear regression analysis suggested that for all the three dimensions of burnout, perceived stress score was the variable, which explained the maximum variance. Conclusions: Burnout is highly prevalent among medical professionals, especially in the domain of EE, and this is followed by DP. Younger age, female gender, and longer working hours/week are significantly associated with EE and DP and with low PA. Perceived stress is one of the important predictors of burnout in medical professionals.