The relationship among burnout, perceived social support and cognitive factors affecting preventive behaviours of healthcare workers: The COVID-19 pandemic period

Abstract

ABSTRACTBackground Burnout and social support have been widely examined, but how these factors relate to preventive behaviours against COVID-19 has not yet been studied. This study investigated the relationship among burnout, perceived social support and cognitive factors affecting preventive behaviours of healthcare workers (HCWs) during the pandemic period.Methods A survey was conducted with 360 HCWs working in a large public hospital in Turkey during the pandemic. The survey included the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and two subscales of the Affecting Factors on Preventive Behaviours of COVID-19 Scale, which is based on the Protection Motivation Theory. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, between-group comparison tests, and binary logistic regression.Results Of the HCWs, 38.1% reported high burnout, 20.3% inadequate social support, 51.4% low perceived self-efficacy, and 52.2% low protection motivation. Working in COVID-19 wards and having low perceived self-efficacy increased burnout (OR:1.96, 1.62; P < 0.050). Receiving adequate social support and higher protection motivation increased the perceived self-efficacy (OR:2.03, 4.92; P < 0.025). Lower education and higher perceived self-efficacy increased protection motivation (OR:2.32, 4.24; P < 0.025).Conclusion The results revealed that burnout, protection motivation, and perceived self-efficacy were significantly affected by some risk factors that policymakers should address.KEYWORDS: Healthcare workersburnoutsocial supportprotection motivationcognitive modelsCOVID-19 wards AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to thank all the HCWs who participated or helped in the achievement of this study during the challenging COVID-19 period. We will always make mention of Professor Bülent Altunkaynak deceased author of the study with respect and love.Disclosure statementConflicts of interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest.Ethics statement: First approved by the Turkish Ministry of Health (29.05.20) and then by Hacettepe University Senate’s Ethics Committee (05.11.20, approval number: E.1316133), the research was conducted with the permission of Ankara Provincial Health Directorate (03.02.21). Also, the participants were informed and their consents were obtained, assuring that the data obtained will remain confidential.Data availability statementThe data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.Additional informationNotes on contributorsAslı YıldızAslı Yıldız (MSc) is a Health Specialist in Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Health, also a PhD student in the Department of Healthcare Management at Hacettepe University. She is a statistician and econometrician (DM). Her fields of interests are statistical methods, health economics, quality management in health services and motivation theories.Sıdıka KayaSıdıka Kaya (PhD) is a professor in the Department of Healthcare Management at Hacettepe University. She holds an MSc and a PhD in healthcare management. She was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Boston University and a research and advanced training fellow at Harvard University. Her research focuses on quality in healthcare, patient safety, hospital performance, utilization, readmission, workforce issues, and medical tourism.Bülent GüngörerBülent Güngörer (MD) is an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at University of Health Sciences, also works as Coordinator Deputy Chief Physician at Ankara Etlik City Hospital. He has worked in COVID-19 wards and conducted some researches on COVID-19 patients related to his medical speciality.