The relationship between burnout and depressive symptoms in patients with depressive disorders

Burnout - physical or psychological fatigue in the personal, work and client-related work domains - appears to share numerous overlapping characteristics with major depressive episodes. However, whether burnout and depression are in fact separate conditions is still ambiguous. Our aim was to examine burnout in a clinically depressed patient sample.

Outpatients with a DSM-IV depressive episode (major depressive episode and dysthymic disorder) completed the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and the Quick Inventory for Depressive Symptomatology, Self-Rated (QIDS-SR). The relationship between CBI-defined burnout and depressive symptoms was examined using correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses.

Depressed patients had high rates of CBI-defined burnout as well as significant correlations between burnout scores and overall depression severity scores. Individual depressive symptoms were significantly higher between patients with and without burnout, and significantly correlated with burnout scores, with the exception of guilt/worthlessness. Multiple regression analysis identified changes in sleep and fatigue as significant predictors of burnout.

The main limitations of the study were the sample size, the broad definition of depression, and the cross-sectional design.

The high burnout scores and correlations between burnout and depression severity observed in this study highlight the importance of understanding burnout in depressed patients. Despite the significant overlap between burnout and depression, the relationship between these two concepts still requires further clarification.