Burnout and Long-term Sickness Absence From the Teaching Function: A Cohort Study
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 20, 2025

Project-Based Learning Guidelines for Health Sciences Students: An Analysis with Data Mining and Qualitative Techniques
Published on: December 9, 2022
Denise A J Salvagioni1, Arthur E Mesas2, Francine N Melanda3
1Department of Nursing, Instituto Federal Do Paraná, Londrina, Brazil.
Background:
The present objective was to verify whether burnout (emotional exhaustion [EE], depersonalization [DP] and low professional efficacy [PE]) is a risk factor for long-term sickness absence (LTSA; ≥30 consecutive days) from the teaching role.
Methods:
This was a prospective cohort study with two years of follow-up that investigated 509 elementary and high-school teachers. Burnout was identified by Maslach Burnout Inventory. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to adjust for possible confounders.
Results:
The incidence of LTSA was 9.4%. High EE levels were associated with LTSA in the crude analysis, but the association lost statistical significance after adjustments (for sex, age, perception of work-life balance, general self-rated health, chronic pain and depression). High DP levels were associated with this outcome, even after all adjustments (relative risk = 1.80; 95% confidence interval: 1.05-3.09). Low PE levels were not related to LTSA.
Conclusion:
The results reinforce the need to improve teachers' work conditions to reduce burnout, particularly DP, and its consequences.
More Related Videos
04:24Acupoint Application as a Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment for Fatigue Associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Published on: September 5, 2025
06:28E-Patient Counseling Trial E-PACO: Computer Based Education versus Nurse Counseling for Patients to Prepare for Colonoscopy
Published on: August 1, 2019
Related Concept Videos
Classification of Illness
An illness is a response to a disease in which the person's level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level. The general classification of illness includes acute and chronic.
Acute illness is severe...
Longitudinal Research
Factors Affecting Illness
For instance, risk factors are connected to illness,...
Longitudinal Studies
Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention II
The agent-host-environment model states that disease results...
Long-term Depression