Burnout syndrome and associated factors among dentists working in hospitals of the Ministry of Health in the Lima Metropolitan Area, Peru

Abstract

Introduction: Worldwide, burnout syndrome is becoming increasingly frequent among dentists, so it is necessary to identify its possible causes. Objective: To describe the prevalence of burnout syndrome and the factors associated with its development among dentists working in hospitals of the Ministry of Health (MINSA) in the Lima Metropolitan Area, Peru. Materials and methods: Analytical cross-sectional study carried out between December 2019 and January 2020 in 105 dentists working in the 11 MINSA hospitals in the Lima Metropolitan Area. The Maslach Burnout Inventory instrument was used to measure burnout. Factors such as sex, age, marital status, type of shift, years of experience as a dentist, whether they performed any other dentistry-related work activity, and hours of physical activity and leisure per day were evaluated. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) were obtained to analyze the association between the presence of the syndrome and the factors. Results: The prevalence of burnout syndrome was 28.57%. Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment levels were high in 90.47%, 98.09% and 35.23% of the participants, respectively. The presence of the syndrome was 47% lower in women (aPR=0.53, p=0.044) compared to men, and 70% lower in those who reported having worked as dentists between 11 and 20 years (aPR=0.30, p=0.017), compared to those with less than 11 years of work experience as dentists. Conclusions: Almost one third of the participants had burnout syndrome. In addition, the majority of dentists showed high levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Being a woman and having 11 to 20 years of work experience as dentists were protective factors for burnout syndrome.