Prevalence and predictors of burnout among Chinese medical postgraduates: a multicenter cross-sectional study

Burnout is a vital concern in healthcare and causes multiple adverse outcomes. This study explored the prevalence of burnout among Chinese medical postgraduates and its associated factors.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among medical postgraduates at 15 teaching hospitals across eight cities in Anhui Province, China. Structured questionnaires were administered to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, occupational exposures, occupational safety factors, anxiety symptoms, and burnout. Multivariate linear regression analysis was applied to identify the predictors of burnout.

A total of 1,276 full-time medical postgraduates were included, with a mean age of 26.68 ± 2.65 years and females accounting for 57.29%. Overall, 30.02% of participants reported no burnout, 32.68% mild, 20.22% moderate, and 17.07% severe burnout. In the fully adjusted model, academic postgraduate and strict compliance with standard operating procedures were independently associated with reduced emotional exhaustion; anesthesiology specialty, a history of sharp injury within the past year, concern about occupational exposure, and anxiety symptoms predicted greater emotional exhaustion. Academic postgraduate, pursuing a doctoral degree, intensive care/emergency medicine specialty, strict compliance with standard operating procedures, hospital pre-training safety education, and adequate access to personal protective equipment independently predicted lower depersonalization; surgery and anesthesiology specialties and anxiety symptoms were linked to greater depersonalization. Advanced age and university occupational safety education were independently associated with lower levels of reduced personal accomplishment; anxiety symptoms were significantly correlated with higher levels of reduced personal accomplishment.

The cross-sectional design only allows assessment of associations rather than causal relationships; reliance on self-reported questionnaires may introduce response bias and social desirability effects; and the sample recruited solely from Anhui Province limits the generalizability of the findings to other regions.

These findings provide targeted insights for developing effective intervention strategies to alleviate burnout and improve the quality of clinical training.