The burnout's prevalence among Tunisian military consultants in psychiatry

Abstract

IntroductionBurnout causes a considerable human cost. Army employees are, in fact, particularly exposed to this risk.ObjectiveTo determinate the prevalence of burnout syndrome among military consultants in psychiatry and to study its socio-familial repercussions.MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted in a military outpatient clinic in Tunis and included 30 military patients with a seniority of more than 15 years. Burnout and major depression were assessed with the instrument Burnout Measure Short version (BMS-10) and the Patient Health Questionnaire “PHQ-9”, respectively.ResultsEighty percent of participants (n = 24) had a very high degree of burnout exposure according to BMS-10. Twenty of these (83.3%) had a moderate to severe depression. All married patients (n = 22) having burnout syndrome reported a conjugopathy and a tendency to physical and verbal aggressiveness against their children.ConclusionMilitary employees are particularly vulnerable to burnout. Detecting burnout in time is therefore essential in order to prevent its undeniable socio-familial repercussions.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.