A study to assess the level of burnout and its determinants among medical practitioners working in a tertiary care center in South India

Background: Burnout is defined as a feeling of hopelessness and inability in carrying out one's job effectively. Burnout in the life of medical practitioners is a term used to describe a psychological state, which appears after a long period of exposure to psychosocial risk factors such as high patient load, long working hours, and unreasonable demands from patients. The objective was to study the prevalence of burnout among medical practitioners and factors associated with burnout. Methodology: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among medical practitioners of tertiary care hospital with a sample of 102. The study was conducted using the Maslach Burnout Inventory with additional questions on demographic factors, work experience, hours of work, and specialty. Data were entered in MS Excel 2007 and analyzed with IBM SPSS statistics 21 version. Results: Out of 102 subjects, 26 (25.5%) members were suffering from burnout in any one of the three dimensions. In the emotional exhaustion, 15 (14.7%) were experiencing high scores, 14 (13.7%) members, and 73 (71.6%) members were experiencing moderate and low scores, respectively. However, in the depersonalization dimension, just 1 (1%) member was experiencing high score, whereas 11 (10.8%) members and 90 (88.2%) members were experiencing moderate and low scores, respectively. In the personal accomplishment dimension, 16 (15.7%) members were experiencing high scores, whereas 13 (12.7%) members and 73 (71.6%) members were experiencing moderate and low scores, respectively. Conclusions: Burnout exists among medical practitioners, and measures should be taken to identify causes and take remedial actions.