Russian Physicians Burnout during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

Abstract

Objective: To study burnout of Russian physicians in the conditions of COVID-19 pandemic and how their work with coronavirus-infected patients influenced it. According to a three-factor model of burnout developed by Maslach and Jackson, this syndrome includes emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduction of personal accomplishment.Design: A cross-sectional survey study.Setting: Large medical practice.Participants: Physicians of different specialties.Methods: Data collection was conducted from June 23 to July 12, 2020. We developed a Google form including a questionnaire and psychological inventories and placed it in a medical portal. Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel was used to study burnout; the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to determine anxiety and depression.Results: Of all the physicians who took part in the study (N = 599), 31.2 % worked with coronavirus-infected patients. Of the medical personnel who treated COVID-19 patients, 63.6% noted increased workload during the pandemic. Compared to other physicians, they more often had a high degree of emotional exhaustion (43.3 % vs 33.0 %, φ* = 2.404, P ≤ 0.01) and depersonalization (41.7 % vs 34, 0%, φ* = 1.803, P ≤ 0.05). An overwhelming majority of physicians, without any dependence on work with infected patients, had an absence of anxiety and depression. The identified interrelations between the symptoms of burnout, anxiety, depression; age and career stage in medical personnel were identical, except for weak correlations between age and emotional exhaustion (rs = -0.097, P ≤ 0.05), as well as career stage and personal accomplishment (rs = 0.102, P ≤ 0.05) in those physicians who worked with COVID-19 patients. The structure of burnout was identical in all physicians and did not depend on interaction with the infected patients.Conclusion: Public health authorities should reduce the workload on physicians involved in treating infected patients against the backdrop of the pandemic. Psychotherapeutic measures focused on preventing burnout should reduce its number among physicians interacting with patients infected with the coronavirus.

Keywords: Burnout; COVID-19; Mental health; Pandemic; Physicians.

Figure 1.

Distribution of the answers to questionnaire among those physicians who worked and did not work with COVID-19 patients. *, P ≤ 0.05; **, P ≤ 0.01.

Figure 2.

Statistically significant correlations (rs) of the scales MBI, HADS, age, and career stage in the group of physicians who worked with COVID-19 patients (n = 187). A, anxiety; Dep, depression; EE, emotional exhaustion; D, depersonalization; PA, personal accomplishment; CS, career stage; —, positive correlation; ---, negative correlation; *, P ≤ 0.05; **, P ≤ 0.01.

Figure 3.

Statistically significant correlations (rs) of the scales MBI, HADS, age, and career stage in the group of physicians who did not worked with COVID-19 patients (n = 412). A, anxiety; Dep, depression; EE, emotional exhaustion; D, depersonalization; PA, personal accomplishment; CS, career stage; —, positive correlation; ---, negative correlation; *, P ≤ 0.05; **, P ≤ 0.01.