Burnout in gastrenterologists: a national-level analysis

Introduction The term burn-out or burnout, means 'burn to exhaustion', this term was first used by Herbert Freundenberg. According to Freundenberg, burnout is a 'state of physical and mental exhaustion conditioned by the individual's professional activity'. That is manifested through a set of signs and symptoms associated with physical and emotional breakdown that result from total energy exhaustion and the lack of resources or forces to 'help' others. Objectives Assess the occurrence of burnout in Portuguese gastroenterologists and understand how certain sociodemographic and professional variables might be associated with burnout manifestations. Material and Methods Observational descriptive, prospective and multicenter study, with analyzed data related to a sample of 52 national gastroenterologists, during the time between 5 February 2019 and 13 April 2019. An estimate of the burnout levels was carried out by the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) questionnaire validated for the Portuguese population - CBI-PT. Possible interconnection between sociodemographic and socio-professional variables were analyzed. Results More than half of the gastroenterologists surveyed did not experience burnout in all subscales of the CBI. On a personal level, there were 13 gastroenterologists with moderate burnout and 11 with high burnout. Regarding the work extent, 18 gastroenterologists with moderate burnout and 7 with high burnout were identified. When considering patient level, it was possible to determine 21 gastroenterologists with moderate burnout and 3 with high burnout. There were no cases of severe burnout. Physicians who developed burnout were significantly younger (p < .001), had less service time (p = .007) and less leisure time (p = .024). Doctors in internship had a higher prevalence of burnout, which might be significantly related to a higher level of professional stress (p = .016). The performance of certain examinations (varicose ligation and endoscopic capsule), working during the weekend and the involvement in medico-legal issues had revealed an association with a higher prevalence of burnout. Discussion and Conclusion A higher prevalence of burnout was identified in young gastroenterologists, doctors in the internship, those performing high amounts of techniques (upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and colonoscopy), as well as doctors working during the weekend or involvement in legal-medical issues. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that if these young doctors do not acquire tools that will allow them to deal with this problem, it is expected that this pathology will reach critical levels within gastroenterologists, and consequently have a negative impact on healthcare.