Burnout among Egyptian health care workers and its associations

Background Burnout is considered to be an important health problem that is faced by HCWs. Aims To measure burnout prevalence and to analyze its association with sociodemographic and occupational features among different sectors of Egyptian health care workers (HCWs). Patients and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted via some internet social media platforms to groups of HCWs in April 2020. The Maslach Burnout Inventory and sociodemographic and occupational questionnaires were applied. The Maslach Burnout Inventory is divided into three subscales: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA). High EE and DP scores and low PA scores indicate burnout in these HCWs. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and χ2 test. Results A total of 143 HCWs participated in this survey. Most of them were under the age of 40 years. Based on our analysis, 93 (65%) respondents had a high EE score, 53 (37.1%) had a high DP score, and 45 (31.5%) had a low PA score. Four variables including age, sex, marital status, and duration of employment had a significant association with high EE, whereas five variables were associated with low PA score, such as age, sex, kind of health care work, duration of employment, and country of working. Conclusion This study sheds light on the heterogeneous entity of burnout and some of its associated factors. Age and place of work are important factors in presence or absence of burnout, whereas sex and profession did not appear to play a big role in determining burnout.