Occupational factors inducing the burnout syndrome in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Aim to analyze the severity of burnout syndrome in healthcare workers, to study the correlations between professional risk factors and the emotional burnout in medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods. The study groups included healthcare workers of different institutions: workers from COVID hospitals (n=201), outpatient polyclinics (n=186), medical workers of multidisciplinary hospitals (n=195); the control group consisted of 190 healthy persons of other professions. The study participants were interviewed using the questionnaire of V.V. Boyko "Diagnosis of the level of emotional burnout" which consists of 84 questions, in order to identify their attitude to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Results. A high level of emotional burnout was revealed in the general sample of medical workers when compared to the control group. The more pronounced signs of emotional distress: tension, resistance, exhaustion were found in medical workers of COVID hospitals in comparison with medical workers of multidisciplinary hospitals and outpatient clinics. The potential professional risk factors for emotional burnout in healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic were: high workload, introduced restrictive measures, fear of illness, lack and shortage of PPE, the threat and risk of contacting the new coronavirus infection, a long period of isolation, financial instability, insufficient (at the beginning) knowledge about the new little-studied disease, a feeling of discrimination and / or stigmatization.