Prevalence of burnout syndrome in rehabilitation health professionals during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Burnout syndrome is the result of prolonged occupational stress. Working under high-stress conditions further exacerbated by COVID-19 may impose an additional psychological burden on rehabilitation health professionals (RHPs) and affect their psycho-social health. Objectives This study was conducted to determine the burnout levels of RHPs working during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine its relationship with various clinical and demographic data. Methods In this cross-sectional study, participants were asked to fill out an anonymous questionnaire containing demographic information and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Three sub-dimensions of burnout; emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and personal achievement (PA) were evaluated. Results A total of 84 participants, most of whom were physiotherapists (56%), attended in the study. The rate of participants experiencing burnout was found to be 25%. The mean score was 20 ± 13.1, 6.7 ± 5.4, and 27.8 ± 10.1 for the EE, DP, and PA subgroups, respectively. Proportionally, 28.6% of participants had high burnout levels for the EE subgroup, 27.4% for the DP subgroup, and 60.7% for the PA subgroup. The mean DP scores were statistically significantly higher in females (p < 0.05). Conclusions This study is one of the few studies examining the frequency and components of burnout syndrome in RHPs in the COVID-19 pandemic. Burnout was observed in RHPs at levels of up to 25% in the general evaluation and up to 60.7% in the subgroup analysis. Occupational burnout is a health problem that needs attention for RHPs and should be evaluated more carefully in the presence of additional stressors such as COVID-19.