Prevalence of Occupational Burnout among Healthcare Workers in Government-owned Health Facilities in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: One of the serious issues facing global health care systems, patient care, and patient safety is burnout among health care  workers which is a psychological condition affecting people who work at a job for a prolonged period of time and are exposed to  interpersonal and emotional pressures. This study evaluated the prevalence of occupational burnout among health care workers in government-owned health facilities in Delta State, Nigeria.

Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted  for this investigation. Stratified (proportionate) random sampling was adopted and the questionnaire was self-administered to 140  respondents. The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS), was used to measure the prevalence of occupational  burnout.

Results: Burnout scores were divided into low, average, and high categories. Out of the 140 study subjects, 113 (80.7%) were  females and 27 (19.3%) were males giving a male to female ratio of 1:4.0. The workplace morbidity/lifestyle of respondents revealed that  6 (4.3%) were diagnosed with health problems prior to commencement of their current job and 38 (27.1%) were diagnosed with health problems  on their current job. The majority of the respondents had musculoskeletal pain while 7.9% of the respondents had diabetes mellitus. As a  result of stress in the workplace, 72 (51.4%) were overeating, 40 (28.6%) were inactive, 2 (1.4%) had increased use of alcohol. The findings  in this study indicated that workload (30.7%) and shift work (20.0%) were the major sources of occupational burnout experienced by the  HCWs with the overall prevalence of occupational burnout at 45.0%.

Conclusion: The study suggests the need for policy intervention from the health authorities of the state hospitals and the PHCs with  regards to improving staff welfare, improving work family balance and effective family support from the family to reduce occupational  burnout among HCWs.