Publication:

Prevalence of burnout among pediatric and obstetrics a gynecology resident at Al-Yamamah hospital in Riyadh

Background Burnout is a common, under-recognized problem amongst health workers. It is defined by three elements; emotional drianage, depersonalization, and decreased professional productiveness. Healthcare workers are particularly at risk, due to prolonged working hours, decreased physician autonomy, and extreme adminsitrivate burdens. The purpose of this study is to estimate the prevalence of workplace burnout among pediatric and obstetrics and gynecology residents in Al-Yamamah hospital.

Methods A cross-sectional study was performed on pediatric and obstetrics and gynecology residents at Al-Yamamah hospital in Riyadh. Data were collected through a previously validated questionnaire. The questionnaire involved two parts; the 1st which included demographic data, and the 2nd Maslach burnout inventory for health services workers (MBI-HSS).

Results Fifty-four percent (54%) of the respondents were male and the mean age was 29 years. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of respondents stated that they work 61 to 70 hours per week and 30% of respondents reported to work 51 to 60 hours per week. Ten percent of the participants showed high depersonalization, 17% reported to have low personal achievements and 12% had high emotional exhaustion.

Conclusions Even though the burnout rate in our study is still of concern, it was found to be much lower compared to the burnout rate of other local studies. Appropriate measures should be taken to deal with the existing burnout amongst residents, such as spreading awareness, counselling, and social support.