{"title":"A review of burnout among doctors in South Africa: Pre-, during and post-COVID-19 pandemic.","authors":"Saajida Khan, Itumeleng Ntatamala, Shahieda Adams","doi":"10.4102/safp.v66i1.6002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong> Burnout is defined as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress, which has been unsuccessfully managed. By increasing the occupational challenges faced by doctors, the COVID-19 pandemic potentiated their risk for burnout. This review aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants of burnout among doctors working in South African health facilities pre-, during and post-COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong> A narrative literature review was conducted. PubMed, SCOPUS and EBSCO databases were searched for English publications until April 2024.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong> A total of 22 cross-sectional studies were included. The prevalence of burnout among doctors working in South African health facilities ranged from 4% to 84% pre-pandemic and 58.9% to 78.0% during and post pandemic, respectively. The lower value of the burnout prevalence range was higher during the pandemic. This review confirmed that individual factors (gender, age, marital status, junior status, practice setting) as well as occupational factors (workload, job control, moral distress, health system issues, job satisfaction, support at work and resilience) were associated with burnout in doctors. There was no significant association between burnout and factors related to COVID-19.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong> While considerable variability exists in the prevalence of burnout among doctors working in South African health facilities, pre-, during and post-COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic resulted in greater burnout rates. Factors associated with burnout include both individual and organisational factors, which need to be addressed to mitigate burnout.Contribution: Mitigation of burnout in South African health facilities should focus on individual-based and context-related interventional measures at an organisational level.</p>","PeriodicalId":22040,"journal":{"name":"South African Family Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11538093/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"South African Family Practice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4102/safp.v66i1.6002","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Burnout is defined as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress, which has been unsuccessfully managed. By increasing the occupational challenges faced by doctors, the COVID-19 pandemic potentiated their risk for burnout. This review aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants of burnout among doctors working in South African health facilities pre-, during and post-COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted. PubMed, SCOPUS and EBSCO databases were searched for English publications until April 2024.
Results: A total of 22 cross-sectional studies were included. The prevalence of burnout among doctors working in South African health facilities ranged from 4% to 84% pre-pandemic and 58.9% to 78.0% during and post pandemic, respectively. The lower value of the burnout prevalence range was higher during the pandemic. This review confirmed that individual factors (gender, age, marital status, junior status, practice setting) as well as occupational factors (workload, job control, moral distress, health system issues, job satisfaction, support at work and resilience) were associated with burnout in doctors. There was no significant association between burnout and factors related to COVID-19.
Conclusion: While considerable variability exists in the prevalence of burnout among doctors working in South African health facilities, pre-, during and post-COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic resulted in greater burnout rates. Factors associated with burnout include both individual and organisational factors, which need to be addressed to mitigate burnout.Contribution: Mitigation of burnout in South African health facilities should focus on individual-based and context-related interventional measures at an organisational level.
期刊介绍:
South African Family Practice (SAFP) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, which strives to provide primary care physicians and researchers with a broad range of scholarly work in the disciplines of Family Medicine, Primary Health Care, Rural Medicine, District Health and other related fields. SAFP publishes original research, clinical reviews, and pertinent commentary that advance the knowledge base of these disciplines. The content of SAFP is designed to reflect and support further development of the broad basis of these disciplines through original research and critical review of evidence in important clinical areas; as well as to provide practitioners with continuing professional development material.