The prevalence of burnout syndrome and its association with adherence to safety and practice standards among anesthetists working in Ethiopia

Tikuneh Yetneberk,Meseret Firde,Dinberu Eshetie,Abebe Tiruneh,Jolene Moore

doi:10.1016/j.amsu.2021.102777

Abstract

BackgroundBurnout amongst healthcare professionals is a serious challenge affecting health care practice and quality of care. The ongoing pandemic has highlighted this on a global level. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of burnout syndrome and its association with adherence to safety and practice standards among non-physician anesthetists in Ethiopia. MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst non-physician anesthetists throughout Ethiopia in January 2020 utilizing an online validated questionnaire containing sociodemographic characteristics, symptoms of burnout using the 22 items of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) scale, 10 questions designed to evaluate the best practice of providers, and 7 questions evaluating self-reported errors. The MBI-HSS questions assessed depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment. A high level of burnout was defined as a respondent with an emotional exhaustion score ≥27, a depersonalization score ≥10, and a personal accomplishment score ≤33 in the MBI-HSS subscales. Bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with burnout. ResultsOut of a total of 650 anesthetists approached, 400 responded, a response rate of 61.5%. High levels of burnout were identified in 17.3% of Ethiopian anesthesia providers. Significant burnout scores were found in academic anesthetists (p = 0.01), and were associated with less years of anesthesia experience (p < 0.001), consuming >5 alcoholic drinks per week (p = 0.02), and parenthood (p = 0.01). ConclusionWe found that non physician anesthetists working in Ethiopia is suffering by high levels of burnout. The problem is alarming in those working at academic environments and less experienced.

Highlights

Burnout amongst healthcare professionals is a serious challenge affecting health care practice and quality of care
8.8% (n = 35) of anesthetists reported performing procedures without appropriate training and 31.3% (n = 53) reported that they fall short in the quality of care they provide ‘multiple times
This study investigated the prevalence of burnout syndrome and its association with adherence to safety and practice standards among anesthetists working in Ethiopia

Summary

Introduction

Burnout amongst healthcare professionals is a serious challenge affecting health care practice and quality of care. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of burnout syndrome and its association with adherence to safety and practice standards among nonphysician anesthetists in Ethiopia. A high level of burnout was defined as a respondent with an emotional exhaustion score ≥27, a depersonalization score ≥10, and a personal accomplishment score ≤33 in the MBI-HSS subscales. High levels of burnout were identified in 17.3% of Ethiopian anesthesia providers. Conclusion: We found that non physician anesthetists working in Ethiopia is suffering by high levels of burnout. Burnout in healthcare pro fessionals is a global challenge affecting health care practice and quality of care which has reached epidemic levels [5,6,7]. Besides its effect on the professionals’ health, burnout has been linked with tense professional relationships in team members, together with lower work activity, worse quality of care, and higher health care costs [10,12,13,14]

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