Burn out among health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary care centre Kerala: a cross sectional study

Authors

  • Ruth Abraham Department of Community Medicine, Sree Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, Ernakulam, Kerala, India
  • Maneesha Planthottathukunnel Rajan Department of Community Medicine, Sree Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, Ernakulam, Kerala, India
  • Safa Puliyakkadi South Tees NHS Trust, United Kingdom

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20222079

Keywords:

Burnout, HCWs, COVID-19, Pandemic, India

Abstract

Background: Burnout as an occupational disease is of global concern. From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers (HCWs) were under heavy workload conditions. The study was done to assess prevalence of burnout among HCWs of a tertiary care hospital in Central Kerala.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among HCWs of a tertiary hospital using a simple random sampling method. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire through Google forms. Burnout was assessed using Copenhagen burnout inventory (CBI). Bivariate analysis was done to find the factors affecting burnout among the study participants using SPPS software.

Results: The mean age of the study participants was 31.26±6.11 years and the majority were females 79 (70.5%). The prevalence of personal burnout, work related burnout and patient related burnout were 55.4%, 44.6% and 32.1% respectively. Those who were staying with family had higher chance of personal (p=0.004), work related (p=0.032) and patient related (p=0.023) burnout. HCWs who wear working in full personal protective equipment (PPE) kit had significantly higher personal (p=0.003, OR=3.4), work related (p<0.001, OR=5.2) and patient related (p=0.022, OR=3.01) burnout.  HCWs who had done high proportion of COVID-19 related duty had significantly higher personal (p=0.018) and patient related (p=0.022) burnout.

Conclusions: Almost half of the HCWs are physically and emotionally exhausted with their work, which needs to be addressed. Psychological interventions should be enhanced to reduce burnout among HCWs and to improve the quality of health care delivered by them during the pandemic.

 

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Published

2022-08-26

How to Cite

Abraham, R., Rajan, M. P., & Puliyakkadi, S. (2022). Burn out among health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary care centre Kerala: a cross sectional study. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 9(9), 3433–3439. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20222079

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Original Research Articles