Burnout in Postgraduate Trainees and Consultants working in Psychiatry Departments of Teaching Hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: To gauge the prevalence of burnout among postgraduate trainees and consultants working in psychiatry department, Services Hospital Lahore, Pakistan. Methods: 31 trainee and consultant psychiatrists in Services Hospital Lahore, Pakistan participated in this cross-sectional study. Abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory (aMBI) measured burnout. It consisted of 9 items, relating to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Each item is scored on a seven-point Likert scale. For Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization, higher scores predicted greater burnout; Personal Accomplishment demonstrated the opposite, hence its scores were inverted. Participants with moderate scores in 2 or more dimensions were identified as suffering from burnout syndrome. Data was analyzed by SPSS 25.0. Result: Mean age of participants was 34.87 ± 8.06 years. 52% were female. 58% were consultants, with average experience of 7 years; 61% practiced in more than one place. 32.3% of participants had burnout syndrome. Emotional Exhaustion subscale showed the highest scores i.e. 7.06 ± 3.43. 71% of participants demonstrated moderate or high burnout in this scale. Average Depersonalization score was 2.94 ± 2.42, while that for Personal Accomplishment was 3.29 ± 2.25. Conclusion: A significant portion of the sample reported moderate and high level of emotional exhaustion. On the contrary, we found low levels of depersonalization in the sample. Most psychiatrists reported adequate levels of personal achievement. These results are reassuring because, despite the presence of emotional burnout, psychiatrists still have capacity to empathize and provide adequate patient care. Key Words: burnout, psychiatry, trainees, consultants, Lahore, Pakistan How to cite: But. A., Rahman S., Rahman Minahil. Burnout in Postgraduate Trainees and Consultants working in Psychiatry Departments of Teaching Hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan. Esculapio 2021;71(01):83-87