Anaesthesiologists Under Strain: Burnout and Its Associated Factors in a Conflict-affected Context, a Cross-sectional...

Anaesthesiologists are particularly vulnerable to burnout due to extended working hours, high-pressure situations, limited patient interactions, multiple responsibilities, and inherent tensions in relationships with surgeons and administrators. The study aimed to explore burnout levels and the factors associated with them among anaesthesiologists in a conflict-affected setting.

A cross-sectional study was carried out between May 2024 and August 2025 using a voluntary, anonymous, and electronic survey. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, demographics, and practice environment questions were included. Statistical analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with personal, work-related, and client-related burnout. A significance threshold of 0.05 was applied.

Among the 82 anaesthesiologists, 57% experienced personal burnout, 51% experienced work-related burnout, and 28% experienced client-related burnout. Positive and significant associations were observed between working longer hours and personal burnout (adjusted ß [95% confidence interval (CI)]=15.6 (0.88; 30.3); P=0.04) and work-related burnout [adjusted ß (95% CI)=17.7 (3.68; 31.7); P=0.01], as well as between covering five or more night shifts per month and client-related burnout [adjusted ß (95% CI)=15.3 (3.86; 26.7); P=0.009].

The findings reveal concerning levels of burnout among anaesthesiologists in conflict-affected regions, which is particularly important given the ongoing regional conflict and limited conflict-specific data, and highlight the potential role of modifiable predictors and associated factors. Targeted interventions are essential to support anaesthesiologists' well-being and ensure the effective functioning of healthcare institutions in such settings. Future studies with larger, randomly selected samples are warranted to further explore this issue.