Burnout syndrome prevalence in physiotherapists

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Psychology
• Rehabilitation Medicine

Background:

• Burnout syndrome poses a significant risk to healthcare professionals, impacting patient care and workforce stability.
• Understanding burnout's prevalence and dimensions is crucial for developing targeted interventions in physiotherapy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess burnout syndrome in its entirety and individual components among physiotherapists in Spain's Extremadura region.
• To identify the specific levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced professional accomplishment in this cohort.

Main Methods:

• An analytical, descriptive, epidemiological, and cross-sectional study was conducted.
• Data were collected from physiotherapists in primary care and institutional settings in Extremadura.
• The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure burnout dimensions.

Main Results:

• Physiotherapists in Extremadura reported an average burnout syndrome score of 65.23 on the MBI.
• This score places them at a moderate level of burnout, nearing the high-level threshold (66 points).
• No statistically significant relationship was found between burnout syndrome and the age of the participants.

Conclusions:

• Physiotherapists in the Extremadura region exhibit moderate levels of burnout across emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low professional accomplishment.
• The findings highlight the need for interventions to mitigate burnout in this professional group.
• Age was not identified as a contributing factor to burnout in this study population.