THE FEATURES OF OCCUPATIONAL BURNOUT IN CIVIL SERVANTS

Abstract

Aim: to study the presence and severity of the occupational burnout syndrome components in civil servants.
 Material and methods. A group of 100 civil servants aged 30 to 60 (mean age 41 ± 7.7 years; 63 (63%) males and 37 (37%) females) were randomly selected and examined. All the enrolled people participated in the regular medical check-up programs, and were free from severe chronic conditions. The Ukrainian version of MBI was used to diagnose the burnout syndrome.
 Results. In general, medium to high levels of professional burnout for all the burnout syndrome components (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, reduction of professional achievements) were found in 86 (86,0%) people. Among them, 11 (12,8%) respondents had a high level of each of these three burnout syndrome indicators. Emotional exhaustion was the most frequent condition among the enrolled respondents (totally, 78 (78%) people pointed at medium to high level of emotional exhaustion). Depersonalization was the second most common condition with 65% of respondents (65 people) having its medium to high level. Reduction of professional accomplishment (medium to high level) was less common and registered in 54 (54%) respondents. Females, as compared to males, were more vulnerable to emotional exhaustion, presenting the higher average score ([median, interquartile range] 27 (20-33) vs. 19 (15-25), respectively; p<0,001), and the higher total frequency of medium to high level cases of that burnout syndrome component (89% vs. 72%, respectively; p=0,047), namely due to more frequent latter ones (57% vs. 32%, respectively; p=0,027).
 Conclusion. The high prevalence of occupational burnout, namely its medium to high severity level, among the civil servants has been established, which indicates the urgency of the problem and the necessity for further research to find the causes, effective prevention measures, and ways to overcome the syndrome and restore the mental and physical health of civil servants.