The high cost of healing and teaching: a cross-sectional survey of burnout among academic physicians in Nigeria

BACKGROUND

Globally, the medical and teaching professions are two major professions with the highest prevalence of burnout, and academic physicians bestride the two professions. This study investigated the prevalence and associated factors of burnout among academic physicians working in tertiary hospitals in Nigeria.

METHODOLOGY

This was a self-administered online survey. Burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory for Educators (MBI-ES) on Google Form and sent to 256 academic physicians in tertiary hospitals across Nigeria using the WhatsApp broadcast feature. MBI-ES was categorized into two categories (Burnout and No Burnout), and binary logistic regression was used to test the influence of 13 predictors on the three dimensions of MBI-ES as well as MBI in its entirety.

FINDINGS

A total of 155 academic physicians responded, resulting in a response rate of 60.5%. There were 121 (80.7%) males and 29 (19.3%) females (five cases respondents omitted this detail). Eighty-seven respondents exhibited moderate to high burnout in at least one of the dimensions of the MBI, translating to a prevalence rate of 57.7% in our study. Five variables, number of peer reviewed articles published, hours of weekly teaching, enjoyment of academic writing, apathy to teaching and religion were all significantly associated with burnout. Moderate to high emotional exhaustion was reported by 30.8% (45 respondents), moderate to high depersonalization by 5.5% (8 respondents),, and low to moderate personal accomplishment by 43.5% (67 respondents).Eight variables: religion, geopolitical zone of practice, enjoyment of academic writing, apathy toward teaching, university ownership, number of published peer-reviewed articles, salary, and supplementary income were significantly associated with emotional exhaustion, while the number of weeks spent teaching in a year and teaching hours/week were significantly associated with depersonalization and personal accomplishment, respectively. Age (OR 1.302, CI 1.080-1.570), Teaching hours/week (OR 0.924, CI 0.854-0.999), Salary (OR 0.996, CI 0.993-1.0), and supplementary salary (OR 0.996, CI 0.993-0.999) were found to significantly predict emotional exhaustion.

CONCLUSION

The study reveals a high prevalence of burnout (57.7%) among academic physicians in Nigeria, highlighting an urgent need for targeted interventions and policy changes. Given the significant role these professionals play in healthcare and medical education, immediate action is essential to address this issue. Future research should focus on evaluating the effectiveness of preventive measures and exploring the long-term impacts of burnout.

Comprehensive Assessment of Burnout Among Surgical Trainees and Practicing Surgeons: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE

Surgeon burnout has received increasing attention due to evidence of high prevalence across specialties. We aimed to (1) systematically characterize existing definitions of burnout, (2) evaluate tools to measure burnout, and (3) determine risk factors of surgical burnout.

DESIGN

PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase databases were searched to identify burnout rates and tools used to measure the quality of life (QoL) published from January 2000-December 2021.

PARTICIPANTS

Surgical Trainees and Practicing Surgeons.

RESULTS

We identified 39 studies that defined surgical burnout, with 9 separate tools used to measure QoL. Surgeon burnout rates were found to be highest among general surgery trainees (20%-95%). Burnout among general surgery attendings ranged from 25% to 44%. Those most likely to experience burnout were younger and female. High rates of surgeon burnout were reported among all surgical specialties; however, these rates were lower than those of general surgeons.

CONCLUSION

Definitions of burnout vary throughout the surgical literature, but are consistently characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment. The most utilized tool to measure surgical burnout has been the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Across specialties, there are high rates of burnout in both surgical trainees and attendings, indicating that this is a systemic issue within the field of surgery. Given the wide-scale nature of the problem, it is recommended that institutions provide support to surgical trainees and attending surgeons and that individual surgeons take steps toward mitigating burnout.

Prevalence of burnout syndrome among Work-From-Home IT professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

Many countries adopted a complete or partial lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and various professions started to work-from-home. People who work-from-home experience constant stress which leads to burnout syndrome. Burnout can be defined as a chronic stress-induced occupational syndrome resulting in fatigue, decreased job productivity, and poor motivation towards the job.

OBJECTIVE

This research work primarily focuses on exploring the prevalence of burnout syndrome among IT professionals who work-from-home and to determine the impact of burnout in different gender and age-groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

Using snowball sampling method 934 IT professionals were selected based on selection criteria, explained about the study processes, and instructed to submit an online survey consist of Maslach Burnout Inventory scale (MBI) through mail, social media, or through a researcher by direct interview.

RESULTS

Descriptive statistics were used to interpret the data. In 25-30 years age-group, men were affected (93%) less than women (94%) and also in 31-35 years age-group, men were affected (96%) less than women (98%). Overall burnout scores of men were 94% and women were 96%. Results indicate female IT professionals were more prone experience burnout syndrome than Male population.

CONCLUSIONS

From the results, it is concluded that 95% of the IT professionals are suffering from burnout, where women are more prevalent to burnout when compared to male. It is also suggested that an early, routine and frequent assessment of physical status, mental status and burnout syndrome is essential to maintain mental health.

Effects of tracheostomy on mothers of children with cerebral palsy

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to investigate psychosocial changes such as burnout, caregiver burden, depression, and coping in mothers of children with cerebral palsy (CP) after tracheostomy placement.

DESIGN

A total of 48 children with CP and chronic respiratory insufficiency and their mothers participated in the study. The children with tracheostomy were classified as T (+) (n = 26) and those who did not have tracheostomy were classified as T (-) (n = 22). The patients with tracheostomy through invasive mechanical ventilation were classified as TIV (+). The data about the clinical conditions of the patients and the sociodemographic characteristics of the mothers were recorded. Zarit caregiver burden, Maslach burnout, Beck depression, and Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE) questionnaires were applied to all mothers.

FINDINGS

Beck depression score was 14 ± 8.24 in T (+) group and 16.09 ± 9.65 in T (-) group (p = .576). There was no significant difference between the T (+) and T (-) groups in the Maslach burnout inventory, Zarit caregiver burden scale, and their subgroups. The first two methods from the COPE scales were identical. In the T (+) group, the third coping method was found as "planning" and in the T (-) group as "active coping". Maslach burnout inventory, Zarit 1, and Zarit 2 scores were higher in patients with only tracheostomy compared to those with TIV (p = .002, p = .018, p = .021).

CONCLUSION

In the study presented, the placement of tracheostomy in children with CP does not increase mother's depression tendencies and mood changes.

Burnout syndrome in healthcare professionals who care for patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

Burnout is more common among healthcare professionals, that is an important problem of professional distress that can seriously affect healthcare professionals' emotional state, health, medical quality and doctor-patient relationship. However, only few studies researched the burnout status of healthcare professionals who care for patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of burnout and related contributing personal and environment factors in healthcare professionals managing these patients.

METHODS

Institution-based cross-sectional study. Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey was used to evaluate burnout in professionals who specially care for patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness in the neurorehabilitation department.

RESULTS

A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed, 121 were collected, among them 93 questionnaires could be used for further analysis. In this study, 61 participants (65.6%) showed burnout (55.2% physicians and 82.9% nurses). For the risks and Maslach Burnout Inventory scores, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were correlated with age, gender, occupation, marital status, years of practice, and education level. Reduced personal accomplishment was correlated with marital status. The variables of age (< 29 years old), occupation (nurses), marital status (unmarried), years of practice (< 5 years), and educational level (≤ Undergraduate) were associated with high levels of burnout.

CONCLUSIONS

Healthcare professionals who care for patients with disorders of consciousness experienced high levels of burnout. Especially those who were younger, nurse, unmarried, less practice experience or lower educational levels were more likely to experience high burnout.

The impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the mental health of healthcare workers in a hospital setting-A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVES

The SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic has subjected healthcare workers (HCWs) to high risk of infection through direct workplace exposure, coupled with increased workload and psychological stress. This review aims to determine the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mental health outcomes of hospital-based HCWs and formulate recommendations for future action.

METHODS

A systematic review was performed between 31st December 2019 and 17th June 2020 through Ovid Medline and Embase databases (PROSPERO ID CRD42020181204). Studies were included for review if they investigated the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mental health outcomes of hospital-based HCWs and used validated psychiatric scoring tools. Prevalence of ICD-10 classified psychiatric disorders was the primary outcome measure.

RESULTS

The initial search returned 436 articles. Forty-four studies were included in final analysis, with a total of 69,499 subjects. Prevalence ranges of six mental health outcomes were identified: depression 13.5%-44.7%; anxiety 12.3%-35.6%; acute stress reaction 5.2%-32.9%; post-traumatic stress disorder 7.4%-37.4%; insomnia 33.8%-36.1%; and occupational burnout 3.1%-43.0%. Direct exposure to SARS-CoV-2 patients was the most common risk factor identified for all mental health outcomes except occupational burnout. Nurses, frontline HCWs, and HCWs with low social support and fewer years of working experience reported the worst outcomes.

CONCLUSION

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has significantly impacted the mental health of HCWs. Frontline staff demonstrate worse mental health outcomes. Hospitals should be staffed to meet service provision requirements and to mitigate the impact onmental health. This can be improved with access to rapid-response psychiatric teams and should be continually monitored throughout the pandemic and beyond its conclusion.

Reducing workplace burnout: the relative benefits of cardiovascular and resistance exercise

Objectives. The global burden of burnout cost is in excess of $300 billion annually. Locally, just under half of working Australians experience high levels of occupational burnout. Consequently, burnout interventions are paramount to organisational productivity. Exercise has the potential to provide a multilevel and cost effective burnout intervention. The current study aims to extend the literature by comparing cardiovascular with resistance exercise to assess their relative effectiveness against well-being, perceived stress, and burnout. Design. Participants were 49 (36 females and 13 males) previously inactive volunteers ranging in age from 19 to 68 that completed a four week exercise program of either cardiovascular, resistance, or no exercise (control). Randomised control trial design was employed. Method. Participants were measured against the Subjective Exercise Experience Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results. After four weeks of exercise participants had greater positive well-being and personal accomplishment, and concomitantly less psychological distress, perceived stress, and emotional exhaustion. Cardiovascular exercise was found to increase well-being and decrease psychological distress, perceived stress, and emotional exhaustion. Resistance training was noticeably effective in increasing well-being and personal accomplishment and to reduce perceived stress. The present findings revealed large effect sizes suggesting that exercise may be an effective treatment for burnout. However, given a small sample size further research needs to be conducted. Conclusion. Exercise has potential to be an effective burnout intervention. Different types of exercise may assist employees in different ways. Organisations wishing to proactively reduce burnout can do so by encouraging their employees to access regular exercise programs.

Burnout among doctors in residency training in a tertiary hospital

The mental health of doctors is an issue of growing concern all over the world as it frequently interplays with their professional trainings and responsibilities. This study was done to determine the pattern and correlates of burnout among 204 doctors undergoing residency training. Eligible participants were interviewed using designed questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The mean age of participants was 33.44±4.50. Ninety-three (45.6%) respondents reported burnout in the dimension of emotional exhaustion (EE), 118 (57.8%) in the dimension of depersonalization (D), and 126 (61.8%) in the dimension of reduced personal accomplishment (RPA). Factors that were significantly associated with all the dimensions of burnout were perceived heavy workload and presence of emotional distress (based on GHQ score of ≥3). The perception of call duty as being not stressful was negatively predictive of burnout in the emotional exhaustion subscale (odds ratio [OR]=0.52; 95%confidence interval [CI]=0.29-0.97; p=0.03), while emotional distress was a positive predictor (OR=6.97; 95%CI=3.28-14.81; p<0.001]. Absence of doctor-to-doctor conflict negatively predicted burnout in the depersonalization subscale (OR=0.36; 95%CI=0.17-0.76); p<0.01), while older age (OR=0.66; 95%CI=0.47-0.95; p=0.03) and adequate support from the management (OR=0.45; 95%CI=0.22-0.90; p=0.02) constituted negative predictors of burnout in the reduced personal accomplishment subscale. Burnout is highly prevalent among resident doctors. Evolvement of comprehensive mental health services, training supports, conflict de-escalation/resolution mechanisms, and periodic assessment are indicated to mitigate work related distress with burn out among resident doctors, while improving their productivity.