Measuring Burnout in Pediatric Oncology Staff: Should We Be Using the Maslach Burnout Inventory?

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Occupational Health
• Oncology Nursing

Background:

• Burnout among health service staff negatively impacts individuals, organizations, and patients.
• The Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) is a common tool for assessing burnout in oncology.
• Validating the MBI-HSS for pediatric oncology staff is crucial for accurate burnout assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the psychometric properties of the MBI-HSS in pediatric oncology staff.
• To evaluate the factor structure, reliability, and interval-level suitability of the MBI-HSS subscales.
• To identify limitations of the MBI-HSS for this specific population.

Main Methods:

• Administered the MBI-HSS to 203 pediatric oncology staff across seven UK Principal Treatment Centers and a children's cancer charity.
• Employed confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis to test the instrument's factor structure.
• Utilized Rasch analysis to assess interval-level measurement properties and Cronbach's alpha for internal reliability.

Main Results:

• Factor analysis suggested a seven-factor structure, deviating from the traditional three-factor model of the MBI-HSS.
• The Emotional Exhaustion (EE) and Personal Accomplishment (PA) subscales met interval-level requirements for group diagnosis.
• The Depersonalization (DP) subscale did not meet interval-level requirements, exhibiting a "floor effect" on many items.

Conclusions:

• The EE and PA subscales of the MBI-HSS are suitable for research on pediatric oncology staff in Principal Treatment Centers.
• Significant issues exist with the DP subscale, necessitating caution when interpreting its data in this population.
• Further research may be needed to refine burnout assessment tools for pediatric oncology professionals.