Prevalence of Burnout Syndrome and the Associated Factors Among Healthcare Professionals in Saudi Arabia: A National Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Burnout syndrome (BOS) is a syndrome characterised by high emotional exhaustion with depersonalisation and low professional accomplishment associated with the workplace. It is well known that working in the healthcare industry significantly increases stress and psychological fatigue rates.

Objective: To explore the prevalence of BOS and its associated factors among healthcare professionals in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 385 healthcare professionals out of 809,533 were randomly surveyed. The questionnaire had three components: sociodemographic data, the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) tool to assess BOS, and questions about personal, work-related and health status information.

Results: Most of the 450 participating professionals were males and were married (66.2% and 75.8%, respectively). Precisely, 42.4% of the participants had high emotional fatigue, 42.4% experienced high depersonalisation, and 33.8% showed low personal accomplishment. Females, younger age groups, nurses, those with fewer years of experience, those with on-call duties, those with increased daily working hours, those with sleep difficulties, those who are exercising, and those experiencing high discrimination and harassment were associated with the development of burnout syndrome.

Conclusion: It is essential to establish multidimensional and diversified therapies to decrease the incidence of BOS syndrome and its effect on healthcare.