Burnout in Orthopedic Trauma Specialists

Abstract

Introduction The burnout syndrome has been described as a group of symptoms related to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of a sense of personal accomplishment. A prevalence ranging from 4% to 59.4% has been described among orthopedic trauma specialists. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the prevalence of burnout in its domains and associated factors in orthopedic trauma specialists in Chile.

Materials and Methods Specialists registered in the Chilean Congress in 2016 were invited. The burnout syndrome was evaluated with the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Numerical and categorical variables were described, and the burnout was analyzed according to its domains and associated variables. Values of p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The present project was approved by the Institutional Scientific Ethics Committee.

Results The survey was filled out by 99 surgeons. The median age was of 45 (range: 29–76) years, and 92% (n = 85) of them were male. A total of 21% scored high on the emotional exhaustion domain, 20%, high on depersonalization, and 6%, low on personal accomplishment. Overall, 35% of the physicians scored above the clinical cut-offs indicating burnout. Sleeping less than 5 hours and the use of modafinil were significantly associated with the presence of burnout.

Conclusion Defined as the alteration of at least one domain, burnout was found in 35% of the sample. Future studies should seek prevention based on modifiable risk factors.

Keywords

orthopedics and traumatology - surgeons - burnout - surgical Specialty

^a Master in Clinical Research.

^b Master in Epidemiology.

Publication History

Received: 20 July 2021

Accepted: 28 September 2022

Article published online:
18 May 2023

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