Abstract

KHAN, Saajida; NTATAMALA, Itumeleng; BAATJIES, Roslynn  and  ADAMS, Shahieda. Prevalence and determinants of burnout among South African doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic. S. Afr. j. psyc. [online]. 2024, vol.30, n.1, pp.1-10. ISSN 2078-6786.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v30i0.2225.

BACKGROUND: Burnout, resulting from chronic workplace stress that has been unsuccessfully managed, has previously been documented in doctors. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased occupational challenges faced by doctors, potentiating their risk for burnout AIM: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants of burnout among medical doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic SETTING: Three public sector hospitals in Gqeberha, South Africa METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 260 voluntary participants was conducted. Participants completed self-administered electronic questionnaires. Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the determinants of burnout RESULTS: The prevalence of burnout in this study was 78%. Burnout was significantly associated with being a medical intern or community-service medical officer (adjusted odd ratio [AOR] = 6.72, 1.71-26.40), being in the lowest income band (AOR = 10.78, 2.55-45.49), and using alcohol to manage work-related stress (AOR = 3.01, 1.12-8.04). Job-related factors associated with burnout were experiencing high conflict at work (AOR = 5.04, 1.92-13.20) and high role ambiguity and role conflict (AOR = 4.49, 1.98-10.18). Low support at work (AOR = 9.99, 3.66-27.23), medium job satisfaction (AOR = 5.38, 2.65-10.93) and medium support at work (AOR = 3.39, 1.71-6.73) were positively associated with burnout. Participants with medium (AOR = 0.28, 0.10-0.80) and high levels of resilience (AOR = 0.08, 0.03-0.25) were protected against burnout. Coronavirus disease 2019-related factors were not significantly associated with burnout CONCLUSION: The burnout prevalence among South African medical doctors at public hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic was high and strongly associated with job stress factors CONTRIBUTION: Given the increased prevalence of burnout among doctors and the strong associations with job stress factors, mitigation of burnout requires targeted organisational interventions

Keywords : burnout; work-related stress; medical doctors; COVID-19; public hospital; South Africa.

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