Predictors of Burnout in Hospital Health Workers during the COVID-19 Outbreak in South Korea.

Chang-Ho Jihn,Kue Sook Kim,Bokyoung Kim

doi:10.3390/ijerph182111720

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the factors that influence the components of burnout—emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA)—among hospital health workers, including doctors and nurses, during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed 200 healthcare workers’ responses to the Employee Health Promotion Survey conducted at a general hospital in Seoul with over 200 hospital beds. The questionnaire included items about COVID-19-related burnout and its influencing factors. We performed three different multiple regression analyses using EE, DP, and PA as the dependent variables. The results show that sex, marital status, workload of treating suspected COVID-19 patients, fear of COVID-19 infection, anxiety, and depression predicted EE. The predictors of DP were job category, consecutive months of work in the current department, satisfaction with work environment, anxiety, and depression. The predictors of PA were the workload of directly interacting with patients, socioeconomic status, and job stress. For EE and DP, burnout was found to be worse in doctors and nurses than in other health workers; moreover, burnout was worse among nurses than among doctors across all three aspects of burnout. The findings can be used to establish tailored policies to address each burnout component.

Highlights

Based on the study findings, we suggest a stepwise approach that identifies the predictors of burnout components (EE, DP, and personal accomplishment (PA)), selects the most vulnerable job category based on the identified predictors, and manages the target job category, preferentially improving predictors that can exert a favorable influence on other job categories
We suggest that follow-up studies should identify biomarkers and somatization in the workforce responding to infectious diseases by referring to the psychosomatic symptoms of burnout [64], biomarkers such as salivary cortisol, or biochemical parameters such as During a pandemic of a novel infectious disease such as COVID-19, the government and hospital healthcare policy managers should consider the potential for burnout in health workers (HWs) who first encounter patients and provide treatment
The results of this study show that, in the early stages of the response to COVID-19, the burnout (EE, DP, PA) levels of doctors and nurses at a general hospital were worse than that of other hospital HWs in emotional exhaustion (EE) and DP; the burnout levels of nurses were worse than those of doctors in all three aspects

Summary

Introduction

The WHO defines health workers (HWs) as “all people engaged in actions whose primary intent is to enhance health” [2] These HWs constitute the core workforce when encountering infectious diseases such as COVID-19. As a result of their role in managing and maintaining medical services at the front line during the spread of infectious diseases, HWs—such as doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedical staff, hospital administrators, support staff, and community workers—face a higher risk of infection than the general public. These workers are exposed to risks such as psychological distress, fatigue, and stigma [3]

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