Prevalence of Burnout among Doctors in Teaching Hospitals in Galle Sri Lanka

Abstract

Introduction: Burnout is a word used to assess the level of exhaustion or disengagement of a person involve in any particular profession. This topic has come to the light in recent years after the results of several studies showing that there are significant number of professionals is in the “Burnout” category. There are no published study results on this topic in Sri Lanka and it is high time to evaluate the issue in the Country. Method: We included all the professionals employed in the teaching hospitals both Karapitiya and Mahamodara. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire called Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI), well accepted and free to study tool. Results: 155 doctors had completed the questionnaire. Out of this the majority were males; 53.5%. Majority of the doctors were grade medical officers; 63.2%. Among them there were 24.8% doctors who were having more than 10 years’ experience. 24.2% doctors were engaged in private practice. A large number of doctors had satisfactory relationship with their Consultant; 94.7%, and with their colleagues; 98.6%. Most of the doctors had never consumed alcohol and never smoked. Out of all 36.1% found exhausted and 34.2% were disengaged with their work. The overall “Burnout” was 20.6%. Doctors involved in private practice are significantly burnout; P=0.04, compared to doctors not doing private practice. In addition the use of alcohol also showed the significant association; P=0.04 with the Burnout”. Conclusion: This study highlighted that there is a significant proportion of doctors; 20.6%, who are “Burnout”. Therefor further studies are recommended to identify the causes in detail.