Burnout Among Health Care Providers During COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

COVID-19, which quickly became a global problem, in addition to its effects on public health, is very important in terms of the effect on mental health and anxiety in health care providers. Job burnout should be considered during such health crises. The study design is a cross-sectional study. A total of 87 health care providers (nurses and physicians) were included in the study. Their general information such as age, gender, years of experience, and hours working in COVID-19 was asked. They all filled Maslach burnout inventory, a questionnaire measuring job burnout with three dimensions: Emotional exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA). We found that in physicians, EE (r:0.54, P<0.001) and DP were correlated with hours working in the COVID-19 ward, but no such correlation was found in nurses. Physicians had a higher DP score (mean 12.66 vs. 8.28, P<0.001) and lower PA score (mean 22.71 vs. 25.62, P:0.004) both of them represent higher burnout levels in physicians. Comparing our results with previous studies show that during the COVID-19 breakout higher level of job burnout could be found in health care workers, especially in physicians. Hours working in COVID-19 special wards can increase the level of burnout.