Research report MMed
10 December 2018 / Background: Burnout is a response to prolonged stress and consists of three
elements: Emotional Exhaustion (EE); Depersonalisation (DP); and Personal
Accomplishment (PA). Existence of burnout under doctors is often not acknowledged
but has major consequences for personal and professional life. Only limited research
done regarding prevalence of burnout amongst registrars in South Africa.
Objectives: To describe the prevalence of burnout, and asses for relationships
between burnout and socio-demographic factors.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive, internet survey was conducted. Respondents
were registrars within the departments of the School of Clinical Medicine at the
University of the Witwatersrand. To measure burnout the Mashlach Burnout
Inventory (MBI) was used. Relationships were assessed by independent samples t-test
and ANOVA.
Results: Of the 585 successfully delivered questionnaires, 201 registrars started the
survey (response rate of 34%). 170 questionnaires were analysed. The mean age of
the respondents was 33 years, the male to female ratio was 1:1.8. The average score
for EE was 3,5 (SD1.2), for DP 2.7 (SD1.1) and for PA 4.1 (SD1.1). The overall level
of burnout was 84%. None of the respondents scored low over all categories. No
significant association between socio-demographics and MBI dimensions was found.
Conclusion: The prevalence levels found in this study was higher than found in
national and international literature. Extremely high levels of DP were found. This is
worrisome as DP affects professionalism and engagement of doctors. In keeping with
international literature no associations were found with socio-demographic factors
and burnout, suggesting the cause of burnout should truly be sought out in the work
environment. Efforts to improve autonomy in the workspace, development
opportunities and promoting peer collaboration, are needed to prevent of burnout. / E.K. 2019
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/28216 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Zeijlemaker, Cathelijn |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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