Prevalence of burnout among healthcare professionals in Singapore.
10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.2021338
- Author:
Kok Hian TAN
1
;
Boon Leng LIM
;
Zann FOO
;
Joo Ying TANG
;
Mabel SIM
;
Phong Teck LEE
;
Kok Yong FONG
Author Information
1. SingHealth Duke-NUS Institute for Patient Safety & Quality, Singapore.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH:
Burnout, Professional/psychology*;
Delivery of Health Care;
Health Personnel/psychology*;
Humans;
Prevalence;
Singapore/epidemiology*;
Surveys and Questionnaires
- From:Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore
2022;51(7):409-416
- CountrySingapore
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
INTRODUCTION:The aim was to study the prevalence of burnout among various groups of healthcare professionals in Singapore.
METHODS:An anonymous online survey questionnaire was conducted using the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services to measure three categories of burnout: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP) and personal accomplishment (PA) from July 2019 to January 2020 in a healthcare cluster in Singapore.
RESULTS:The survey was completed by 6,048 healthcare professionals out of a target survey population of 15,000 (response rate 40.3%). The study revealed 37.8% of respondents had high EE score ≥27, 29.7% of respondents had high DP score ≥10, and 55.3% of respondents had low PA score ≤33. Respondents with either high EE score or high DP score constituted 43.9% (n=2,654). The Allied Health group had the highest mean EE score, which was significantly higher than those of Medical, Nursing and Non-clinical groups (P<0.05). The Medical group had the highest mean DP score and this was significantly higher than the Nursing, Allied Health and Non-clinical groups (P<0.05). The Non-clinical group had the lowest PA, which was significantly lower than the Medical, Nursing and Allied Health groups (P<0.005).
CONCLUSION:There was high prevalence of burnout among healthcare professionals in Singapore, especially the allied health professionals. There were significant differences in the 3 categories of burnout (EE, DP and PA) among the different groups of healthcare professionals. There is an urgent need to address the high burnout rate.
