EXPLORING JOB SATISFACTION AND BURNOUT AMONG CARDIOLOGISTS IN EGYPT: A CROSSSECTIONAL STUDY

Introduction: Rising levels of stress and exhaustion among healthcare providers negatively impact productivity, patients care and their safety. Burnout is defined as a psychological state of exhaustion, loss of motivation and reduced sense of fulfillment. Aim of Work: To assess prevalence of burnout and level of job satisfaction among cardiologists working in Egypt. Materials and Methods: A survey based on the Mini-Z questionnaire was used. A few questions were added to adapt for variables encountered in the Egyptian physician lifestyle. A web-based anonymous questionnaire was sent to 550 Egyptian cardiologists via e-mail and/or instant messaging software. Results: Three hundred cardiologists (median age of 34 years, 75.33% males) working in Egypt responded to the survey. The majority (63.6%) were general cardiologists and more than half (52.3%) worked as registrars. Fifty percent of the participants worked more than 60 hours weekly and 10% exceeded 100 working hours weekly and 45.6% worked in three or more healthcare facilities. About 72% reported feeling significantly stressed because of their jobs and 79.8% were dissatisfied with their income. Burnout was stated by 74.6% of the participants, 36.6% once thought about a career shift and 69.9% of the respondents considered immigration. Factors associated with higher levels of burnout included longer weekly working hours (more than 40 hours) (<0.001), working in more than one workplace (0.02), income dissatisfaction (<0.001) and lack of feeling of career progression. Conclusion and Recommendations: High levels of job-related stress and burnout were observed among cardiologist working in Egypt. Interventions at both the personal and organizational levels are highly recommended to face this serious problem