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

Abstract

Background Burnout 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. Methods A 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. Results Out 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). Conclusion We 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.

Compassion Fatigue in Emergency Medicine: Current Perspectives

“…This occurs by not following protocols, admitting or discharging patients prematurely to make the ED more manageable, not fully answering patients’ questions, and not treating patients’ pain in a timely manner. 53 , 62–67 Furthermore, higher levels of burnout were correlated with not communicating important information during handoff, not discussing treatment plans with important staff, and ordering more laboratory or radiology studies because of feelings of being busy. 53 , 62–67 One European study found that burnout among EPs was associated with self-reported mistakes that inadvertently could have harmed or did in fact harm patients.…”

“… 53 , 62–67 Furthermore, higher levels of burnout were correlated with not communicating important information during handoff, not discussing treatment plans with important staff, and ordering more laboratory or radiology studies because of feelings of being busy. 53 , 62–67 One European study found that burnout among EPs was associated with self-reported mistakes that inadvertently could have harmed or did in fact harm patients. 68 EPs with CF communicate less thoroughly and less well, and are more likely to have unchecked cognitive biases that impact patient care.…”

“… 68 EPs with CF communicate less thoroughly and less well, and are more likely to have unchecked cognitive biases that impact patient care. 53 , 62–69 …”

Prevalence of Health Workforce Burnout during COVID-19 Response in Ethiopia.

“…The questionnaire was adopted and validated with some of the questions based on a framework similar to that of previous studies on infectious disease outbreaks [10,11,12].…”

“…Burnout generally affects the mental health of the health workforce, job satisfaction and minimizes patient"s quality of care. During the COVID-19, response health professionals were affected by burnout, with consequent decrease in work performance and patient care which could have negative impact on the family and society [9,10] The burnout rate increased among the HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is virtually no published data on burnout among health workforce in Ethiopia at the national level. Thus, this assessment was conducted to examine the prevalence of burnout among the health workforce during the COVID-19 response in Ethiopia.…”