Prevalence of Burnout among physicians in a Kerbala, Iraq

Abstract

Burnout is a stress-related disorders of global concern, also it is associated with decreased job performance and low career satisfaction. Its common among physicians and more risky because of their work nature as they deals with human lives. Burnout might indiscernible passed undiagnosed or managed. To determine the prevalence of burnout amongst physicians in Kerbala and identify factors associated with burnout. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among doctors using a validated self-administered questionnaire based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) with adding some questions related to Iraqi context and what physicians encounter. Ethical approval was obtained from research ethics committee in college of medicine-University of Kerbala. A total of 296 physicians filled and returned the questionnaire with a response rate of 84%. In terms of burnout, 52.7% of respondents scored high for emotional exhaustion burnout, 14.3% for depersonalization and 25.9% for personal accomplishment. High level of burnout in all three dimensions of burnout recorded among 4.4%. Burnout was found to be strongly associated with younger age and less years of employments. Burnout seems to be a common problem among physicians in Kerbala due to workload and stress. Emotional exhaustion was the commonest form of burnout.