PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF BURNOUT AMONG MILITARY DOCTORS IN PAKISTAN

Burnout Among Military Doctors

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of factors contributing to burnout among military Physicians in Lahore, Pakistan.

Study Design: Cross-sectional analytical study.

Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Lahore and CMH Lahore Medical and Dental College from March 2014 to September 2014.

Methodology: Sample consisted of 133 physicians (n=66) males and n=67 females). Convenient sampling procedure was used. Mashlach Burnout Inventory (MBI) which included 22 questions was used to measure emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. The questionnaire also elicited information about socio-demographic and work characteristics. Data was entered and analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20.0). Chi-square test of significance was used to see the significance of association between age, gender, duration of service in years and working hours per week. p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: On the MBI, 29 (21.8%) physicians showed high emotional exhaustion, 22 (16.6%) showed high depersonalization and 34 (25.6%) showed low personal accomplishment. Thirty-seven physicians (27.8%) were identified as experiencing a high degree of burnout (high emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and low personal accomplishment). The frequency of high degree of burnout was higher among males (36.4%) as compared to females (17.9%) and this difference was statistically borderline significant (p = 0.057). However, there was statistically significant difference (p = 0.03) of burnout between those working ≥ 41 hours per week as compared to working ≤40 hours per week.

Conclusion: The prevalence of high degree of burnout in Pakistani military physicians was higher than those reported internationally. Work redesign plans as well as early assessment and intervention may be helpful in the reduction of job burnout in physicians working in military hospitals.