Burnout and Work Engagement Among Dental Practitioners in Bangalore City: A Cross-Sectional Study

Burnout is a job-related stress reaction; a potential hazard for personal, professional lives of dentists. Work Engagement (WE) is the antithesis of Burnout and they can co-exist.

This study was taken up to know the prevalence of Burnout and WE among dentists in Bangalore, India.

In a cross-sectional study, all (n=116) dentists practicing in Bangalore East Zone were randomly selected. A structured, self-administered questionnaire revealing dentists' demographics, practice characteristics, Burnout level [6-item from Maslach Burnout Inventory] and WE [4-item from Utrecht Work Engagement Scale] was used. Ethical clearance and informed consent was obtained. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 15.0.

With a response rate of 58.6%, high burnout was seen in 5.15% dentists. Personal Accomplishment was significantly associated with dentists in older age-group (p=0.002), married (p=0.014), MDS qualified (p=0.038), having long working hours (p=0.009) with assistants (p=0.024), more years into practice (0.007), travelling more distance from residence (p=0.021). Significance was also seen for dedication among dentists with assistants (p=0.006), emotional exhaustion among dentist with long working hours (p=0.009), and driving own vehicle (p=0.028). Finally absorption was found significant in dentists practicing solo.

Higher WE were found but still burnout persisted. Thus, burnout and WE were found to co-exist.