Burnout of Healthcare Workers Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Follow-Up Study.

Yoshito Nishimura,Tomoko Miyoshi,Hideharu Hagiya,Asuka Sato,Kou Hasegawa,Fumio Otsuka,Yoshinori Kosaki

doi:10.3390/ijerph182111581

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed a significant challenge to the modern healthcare system and led to increased burnout among healthcare workers (HCWs). We previously reported that HCWs who engaged in COVID-19 patient care had a significantly higher prevalence of burnout (50.0%) than those who did not in November 2020 (period 1). We performed follow-up surveys in HCWs in a Japanese national university hospital, including basic demographics, whether a participant engaged in care of COVID-19 patients in the past 2 weeks, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory in February 2021 (period 2) and May 2021 (period 3). Periods 1 and 3 were amid the surges of COVID-19 cases, and period 2 was a post-surge period with a comparatively small number of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization. Response rates to the surveys were 33/130 (25.4%) in period 1, 36/130 (27.7%) in period 2, and 56/162 (34.6%) in period 3, respectively. While no consistent tendency in the prevalence of burnout based on variables was observed throughout the periods, the prevalence of burnout tends to be higher in periods 1 and 3 in those who engaged in COVID-19 patient care in the last 2 weeks (50.0%, 30.8%, 43.1% in period 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Given the prolonged pandemic causing stigmatization and hatred against HCWs leading to increased prevalence of burnout, high-level interventions and supports are warranted.

Highlights

We previously reported that healthcare workers (HCWs) who engaged in care of COVID-19 patients had significantly higher burnout rates (50.0%) than those who did not, and those
We aimed to explore the up-to-date prevalence of burnout in Japanese HCWs amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic based on a hypothesis that the prevalence may increase over time, following our previous crosssectional study in a Japanese national university hospital
We have summarized the prevalence of burnout among HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic over time and showed that HCWs might suffer from burnout considerably during the surges of COVID-19 cases than post-surge periods

Summary

Introduction

As noted by the Director-General of the World Health Organization and other experts, the COVID-19 pandemic has a considerable negative effect on mental health and well-being, by exacerbating existing mental health disorders, limiting access to healthcare, and posing considerable stress and risks of infection [1,2,3,4]. HCWs are at increased risk of psychiatric symptoms than the general population, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, or even suicidal ideation [5,6]. While burnout syndrome is not included in the list of mental disorders in the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, a study suggested its association with major mental disorders such as insomnia, depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic symptoms [7]. We previously reported that HCWs who engaged in care of COVID-19 patients had significantly higher burnout rates (50.0%) than those who did not, and those

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