Frequency of Burnout Syndrome in Doctors during COVID-19 Pandemic in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of burnout syndrome in junior doctors who worked in COVID 19 units of a tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration: The study was conducted at Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College Karachi by the Department of Community Medicine during 1st August 2020 to 30th June 2021. Methodology: The study population was house officers, interns, medical officers and junior residents working solely in COVID 19 isolation wards, high dependency units and intensive care units. The data was collected on structured questionnaire which had sections of socio-demography and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services survey (MBI-HSS). MBI-HSS is reliable and validated tool for assessment of burnout syndrome. It evaluates three sub-dimensions of burnout that is emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and low personal accomplishment (PA). Data analysis was done on SPSS version 21. Results: Total 106 doctors were working in different COVID 19 units and all of them had participated in the study. Majority were females and young. Around 55% of participants had high emotional exhaustion scores. All the participants had high (>9) depersonalization scores, and low (<32) personal accomplishment scores. Doctors working less than eight hours a day had low levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization scores and high personal accomplishment as compared to doctors working more than eight hours a day. There was no significant difference in scores among the designations of junior doctors. Conclusion: The health authorities need to take supportive measures to improve mental health of workers for attaining better health outcomes. Keywords: Burnout Syndrome, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Healthcare Workers, COVID 19, Doctors, Tertiary Care. How to Cite This: Siddiqui AF, Abidi SS ,Zainab S ,Quershi K ,Khoso A. Frequency of Burnout Syndrome in Doctors during COVID-19 Pandemic in a Tertiary Care Hospital. Isra Med J. 2023; 15(2): 60-64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55282/imj.oa1357