Burnout Syndrome Presence in Resident Doctors of the Family Medicine Unit No. 24

Abstract

Backgrounds: Due to new hired experiences and responsibilities, in their professional and personal life, resident doctors are experiencing pathologies related to stress. Objective: To characterize the Burnout syndrome in Resident Doctors of the Family Medicine Unit No. 24. Material and methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was done with participation of all the resident doctors of the Family Medicine Specialization Course from August to November 2007. After previous written consent, doctors answered a self-report the instrument (Maslach Burnout Inventory) to evaluate their professional wear out. This instrument includes 22 items and 3 dimensions (depersonalization, emotional weariness, and personal fulfillment), besides social-demographic, professional and family data. The information was analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics by applying the squared-chi test. Results: From the population of 43 resident doctors, one was excluded due to an incomplete survey. The doctor's range age was from 25 to 38 years old. Most of the surveyed doctors were female (59.5%), who presented psycho-physical alterations in 61.9%, as well as a high family dysfunction in 26.19% and a moderate in 63.63%. The association between family dynamics perception and residency grade resulted in a more frequent, severe and moderate dysfunction in 2nd and 3rd grade students (p=0.032). The syndrome dimensions proved low depersonalization (81%), low emotional weariness (40.5%) and high personal fulfillment (88.1%). For the intermediate Burnout syndrome it was obtained 59.5% and for the Burnout associated to low emotional weariness 31.8%. Conclusions: The resident doctors present a medium to low presence of Burnout with low personal fulfillment, alteration in the family dynamic perception and grade of residency.