The prevalence of working stress and emotional burnout among health workers

Abstract

Introduction. In the course of their occupational activities, health workers experience a huge burden, which often leads to the development of stress, emotional burnout, and changes in health status. Goal – to study the prevalence of working stress and the degree of emotional burnout in health workers with different levels of work stress. Material and methods. Two hundred ten health workers of outpatient polyclinic institutions of Kazan were examined using the questionnaire “RAMIS” (Workplace and stress) and the questionnaire of emotional burnout by K.Maslach (adapted by N.E. Vodopyanova). Results. There was recorded an increased level of stress among health workers in all age groups (31.6% at a young age, 35% on average, 42.4% in the elderly). Low level of social support (54.2%) and low level of control (43.1%) are the leading factors in the structure of working stress among health workers of outpatient clinics. A high degree of emotional burnout is equally recorded in all the age groups studied (35.9% at a young age, 40% on average, 42.3% in the elderly). A reliable relationship between working stress and emotional burnout has been determined. Limitations. Health workers in hospitals and private medical clinics were not included, as well as those who did not give informed consent to participate in this study. Conclusion. A high level of working stress was recorded in each age group studied, the relationship between age and the level of work stress was not revealed. Also, the burnout syndrome was detected in all age groups and had no connection with age. Health workers with a high level of stress were found to be much more likely to suffer from emotional burnout than people with low working stress.