Burnout, quality of life and emotional profile in general practitioners and psychiatrists

OBJECTIVE: Many studies confirm that psychological factors and burnout in physicians are interconnected. It is however not known, whether quality of life is another factor that plays a role in this connection. The aim of this study was to explore the correlation between quality of life and emotional profile with the level of burnout in physicians. PARTICIPANTS: 120 physicians participated in this study, i.e. sixty general practitioners (GPs) and sixty psychiatrists. METHODS: The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) were used to measure the job stress. The Quality of Life (QOL) and the Emotions Profile Index (EPI) were used to determine quality of life and emotional profile. Data were analyzed using methods of single and multiple correlation and regression methods. RESULTS: The QOL was higher in psychiatrists as a direct consequence of questions about finances and friendship. Analysis by gender showed that the growth of the burnout risk level (MBI) correlated with the growth of number of women who had stress coping problems. CONCLUSIONS: This research suggests that quality of life and individual factors represent a very significant role in burnout among physicians. Further researches in a bigger sample are required in order to identify key factors of quality of life related to burnout reducing, as well as for improvement of supervision strategies, including more the relevance of psychological profile of physicians.