[Relationship between emotional intelligence and burnout syndrome in Primary Healthcare doctors]

The purpose of this study is to analyse the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and burnout syndrome (BOS) in doctors in Primary Health Care.

Cross-sectional descriptive study.

All healthcare centres and clinics in Asturias.

Doctors of Primary Health Care who are active.

In April 2018, an anonymous self-administered questionnaire was sent to all concerned. It included sociodemographic data, employment data, and TMMS-24 (EI) and MBI (BOS) validated scales.

BOS as a dependent variable. Three dimensions of EI, age, sex, marital status, number of children, form of training, contract type, time worked, on-call hours, number of patients per day, quota, rural or urban setting, healthcare area, relationship with nursing/hospital, and teaching as independent variables.

Bayesian inference.

A total of 647 questionnaires were sent, and 374 subjects took part in the study (response rate: 57.8%). The subsequent distribution of BOS prevalence was 64.5% [95% credibility index: 59.7-69.2]. BOS was associated with 3 dimensions of the EI, and to have higher social skills decreased the risk of presenting with BOS. Age, contract type, urban setting, and number of patients per day tended to increase the odds of prevalence of BOS. Having children or being a guardian tended to decrease the odds of prevalence.

The high level of BOS in Primary Health Care doctors should be pointed out, with more than one out of 2 doctors having burnout. Therefore, we suggest looking into how emotional skills are achieved, and also how to improve working conditions in Primary Health Care.