Prevalence of burnout and its correlates among medicos of Malappuram district

Abstract

Introduction: Medical students are continuously exposed to psychosocial stressors throughout training which can lead to Burnout; which is state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. Objectives: To assess the prevalence and its correlates of burnout among medical students of a tertiary medical college at Malappuram District. Materials and Methods: A descriptive study was conducted among medical students of a tertiary medical college at Malappuram District using the Copenhagen burnout inventory Scale to find out prevalence and correlates of personal, work and patient related burnout. The data was entered into excel and transferred to Spss version 16 for analysis. Frequencies were calculated for demographic variables using proportions and Chi-square was used as test of hypothesis. Results: Prevalence of work related burnout was found more among first and least among final year batch of students and the difference were significant. Males experienced higher work related and patient related burnout. Those who stay away from the family experience more personal burnout compared to day scholars. Burnout was higher in smokers and who had history of alcohol intake and least in those who exercise regularly. Conclusions: About 1/3rd of the students had burnout in one or the other dimensions of Copenhagen burnout inventory. Interventions in Behavior change communication (BCC) should be emphasized regarding regular exercise, adequate sleep and healthy diet various strategies to cope up stress should be incorporated in the medical curriculum. Keywords: Stress, Burnout, Medical students.