Burnout and its association with extracurricular activities among medical students in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

ObjectivesTo assess levels of burnout in medical students, and to explore the influence of extracurricular activities on burnout at a medical school in Saudi Arabia. MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted with first to fourth year medical students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Socio-demographic, burnout level (the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey, MBI-SS) and participation in extracurricular activities data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed using the Pearson’s chi-square test and binary logistic regression. ResultsFrom the 306 medical students approached, 249 (81.4%) completed the questionnaire. The level of high burnout was 67.1% (n=167). The study revealed that the majority (62.3%, n=155) of students had high levels of cynicism, 58.6% (n=146) had high levels of emotional exhaustion, and 60.2% (n=150) had low levels of professional efficacy. Most of the students (73.5%, n=183) participated in extracurricular activities, and 112 (45%) students were organizers of extracurricular activities. No significant association was found between burnout levels and the frequency of involvement in extracurricular activities (χ2=2.2, df=2, p=0.333). However, students who were organizing extracurricular activities were less likely to have low professional efficacy (OR=0.51, 95% CI: 0.27- 0.96). ConclusionsHigh levels of burnout were reported at this medical school. Although the burnout level is not significantly associated with the frequency of involvement in extracurricular activities, leading and organizing extracurricular activities might result in lower levels of burnout. Therefore, improving the students’ leadership skills should be considered in curriculum planning, and greater emphasis should be placed on the quality of involvement in extracurricular activities rather than the quantity.

Stress, Burnout, and Associated Risk Factors in Medical Students

“…On the other hand, numerous studies note lower burnout levels ranging between 10.3% and 45% [16][17][18]. The findings of this research did not match the previous study done by Almalki et al which reported alarming findings and reveal a high burnout level (67%) among medical students [19]. Several factors contribute to these varieties of results.…”

“…This can be due to the high level of knowledge that the relative passes or the early exposure that the student will have. In other studies, students who have a physician among family members show significantly high burnout with high emotional exhaustion and high cynicism [17,19]. Also, another study stated that physicians' parents are the second-highest source of stress for medical students [23].…”

“…A study suggested that females are more likely to perceive challenging events as stressful as compared to men and some reported that female medical students had high-stress effects from contact with patients and autopsy more frequently than male students [18,27]. Yet, other studies imply opposite results where male students were at higher risk of burnout and stress than females [19,[28][29].…”

Nomograms Predicting Self-Regulated Learning Levels in Chinese Undergraduate Medical Students

“…Stress and burnout, mainly due to heavy schoolwork, progressively developed over the course of medical education (Fares et al, 2016). Appropriate extracurricular activities could reduce anxiety, stress, and burnout and their harmful effects on physical and mental health (Stewart et al, 1997;Almalki et al, 2017;Urlings-Strop et al, 2017). However, our results confirmed that excessive extracurricular activities (>10 h per week) were not positive to SRL level.…”

Academic Flow And Burnout In College Students: An Eight-Month Longitudinal Study

“…On the other hand, involvement in other types of leisure activities has different effect on wellbeing and burnout. The involvement in extracurricular activities (extra academic activities such as volunteer/community services, research and teaching activities, reading activities, arts and cultural activities) either is not associated with the burnout level, or may even counteract burnout, especially in college men (Jacobs & Dodd, 2003) and in those leading and organizing extracurricular activities (Almalki, Almojali, Alothman, Masuadi, & Alaqeel, 2017). Extracurricular involvement promotes sense of accomplishment and thus does not lead to emotional exhaustion but play a protective role against low personal accomplishment, one aspect of burnout (Jacobs & Dodd, 2003).…”