Burnout prevalence in anesthesiology and orthopedic surgery in a center in Chile

Abstract

Aim: To assess levels of burnout, including emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment and depersonalization, in the daily work of academic doctors in the Orthopedic Surgery Service and Central Surgery Service of the Hospital Hernán Henríquez Aravena (HHHA) and Surgery Department in the Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile.

Materials and Method: Cross-sectional study. 48 subjects participated: 10 residents in orthopedic surgery, 8 residents in anesthesiology, 12 academic anesthesiologists and 18 academic orthopedic surgeons. Instruments applied under informed consent: Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI).

Analysis: Measures of central tendency and percentage, independent sample t-tests. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of the MBI. Results: The overall prevalence of burnout syndrome is 97%, whereas by dimensions, emotional exhaustion showed a prevalence of 100%, low personal accomplishment at work 100% and depersonalization 91.6%. For orthopedic surgery by dimensions: emotional exhaustion showed a prevalence of 100%, low personal accomplishment at work 100% and depersonalization 82%. For anesthesiology: emotional exhaustion showed a prevalence of 75%, low personal accomplishment at work 30% and depersonalization 30%. Only gender and hours of sleep showed significant differences in emotional exhaustion, with higher scores for women and those who slept less than 7 hours. 0.7 Cronbach’s alpha of the MBI.

Conclusion: There is excessive emotional fatigue, low job felt accomplishment and depersonalization in orthopedic surgery residents and academic. In anesthesiology, emotional high exhaustion coexists with low personal accomplishment values and depersonalization high. In Chile, protection policies are mainly focused on Occupational Safety and Health with risk management, but there are no stress protection and mental health policies involving containment and support for the therapeutic work of medical professionals.