The effect of social media addiction on burnout among health-care students and professionals in Saudi Arabia

Introduction: The rapid growth of information technology and the widespread use of smartphones has created the perfect environment for social media addiction, a condition that affects all members of society, including health-care students and professionals. Current evidence suggests that the direct and indirect effects of social media addiction on human health could include, among other things, burnout. This study aimed to investigate the possible relationship between social media addiction and burnout among health-care students and professionals in Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used with an online questionnaire distributed to health-care students and professionals via social media platforms. A convenience sampling method was used to collect the data. The questionnaire consisted of three sections measuring demographic variables, social media addiction, and burnout. Results: The 789 participants who completed the questionnaire had a mean age of 25.77 years (+/- 8.26) and came from 22 cities in Saudi Arabia. Students had significantly higher scores for social media addiction than interns/residents (P = 0.018) or specialists/consultants (P < 0.001). Participants were found to experience different levels of burnout, reporting no/mild burnout (34.98%), moderate burnout (35.49%), high levels of burnout (23.83%), and severe burnout (5.7%). A significant direct relationship between social media addiction and burnout was found (F [1,787] = 91.877, P < 0.001, R-2 = 0.105). Conclusion: The findings provide insight into the prevalence of social media addiction and burnout among health-care students and professionals and the possible association between two variables. There is a need for further research comparing the correlation between social media addiction and burnout in different groups (i.e., students, interns/residents, and specialists/consultants), as well as identifying factors that affect social media addiction and burnout among these groups. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Medical knowledge, Interpersonal and communication skills, and Professionalism.