Background: Burnout syndrome is a frequent challenge faced in the emergency department. There exists a dearth of clinical evidence regarding the risk and occurrence of burnout, among emergency residents in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the parameters of burnout in this cohort.
Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted via an online survey using Maslach Burnout Inventory for Healthcare Professionals (MBI-HSS) questionnaire. All emergency medicine residents registered under the country’s residency program were invited to participate. The relative importance index (RII) analysis was used to describe the frequency of the MBI-HSS indicators. The t-test of independent groups and the one-way analysis of variance were used to assess the impact of demographic and professional factors.
Results: A total of 73 residents completed the questionnaire. Low PA was reported by 53.4% while medium to high DP and EE were reported by 84.9% and 67.1% residents respectively. Female residents had significantly higher EE versus males. Age, marital status and number of children had no correlation with burnout. Emergency residents serving at hospitals of the Ministry of Health reported significantly higher levels of burnout, versus other institutions. The final year of the residency program showed significantly lower levels of burnout than the earlier years.
Conclusion: This is the first study from Saudi Arabia, assessing the parameters of burnout, specifically among emergency medicine residents. The study has shown alarmingly high levels of DP, EE and low PA and warrants urgent remedial measures to curb burnout among emergency residents.
Key words: emergency medicine, education, Residents, wellbeing, burnout.
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