Work Related Burnout among Psychiatrists: A Comparative Study

S, El Hadidy; A, El-Gilany; I, Ibrahim; E, Mashally; A, El-Bahnasawy; A, State

doi:10.21608/ejom.2019.47859

Work Related Burnout among Psychiatrists: A Comparative Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Occupational Health and Industrial Medicine, 2 Department of Public Health

² Department of Public Health

³ Department of Psychiatry,

⁴ Specialist of Neuropsychiatry and director of Demirah Hospital, Dakahlia, Egypt.

⁵ Department of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation

⁶ Department of Dermatology , Andrology and STD, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt,

10.21608/ejom.2019.47859

Abstract

Introduction: Psychiatry has been consistently shown to be a profession characterized by ‘high-burnout’ due to
either workplace stressors or specific patient’s nature and condition, together with personal stresses. The ways
of coping strategies to face work-related stressors usually determines the development and even the levels of
burnout which is known to be higher among those who adopt maladaptive coping compared to those who adopt
adaptive coping strategies. Aim of work: To compare the burnout among psychiatrists verses non psychiatrists.
Materials and methods: This comparative cross sectional study included psychiatrists, working in Mansoura
University Hospital and Demirah Psychiatry Hospital during the period from September to November, 2017. A
group of physicians were taken from the department of Rheumatology and Dermatology , Faculty of Medicine
, Mansoura University as a comparative group ; fulfilling the eligibility criteria. Data was collected using
a specially designed questionnaire covering sociodemographic data, educational and occupational histories
and history of exposure to workplace stresses as physical violence. Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)
questionnaire and The Ways of Coping Scale questionnaire were also performed. Results: The psychiatrists
showed statistically significant higher prevalence of moderate and high level of both emotional exhaustion and
depersonalization than non psychiatrists (83.6% vs 52.1% and 100.0% vs. 81.7%; respectively). Psychiatrists
showed statistically significant high coping scores than non psychiatrists regarding: seeking social support,
planful problem-solving and positive reappraisal. Night shift is statistically higher among psychiatrists than the
non psychiatrists (50.7% vs. 25.4%; respectively). Conclusion: The prevalence of moderate and high level of
emotional exhaustion and depolarization is higher among psychiatrists than non psychiatrists and is associated
with a significantly higher prevalence of high level of personal achievement among non psychiatrists .The
commonest way of coping among psychiatrists is active coping.

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