Impact of burnout among surgeons and residents at a Tertiary Care Hospital of Pakistan.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine frequency and impact of burnout among surgeons and residents of different specialties at a tertiary care hospital in Punjab, Pakistan, over a period of 6 months. Study Design: Observational Cross-sectional study. Setting: Departments of General Surgery and Ophthalmology, Mayo Hospital Lahore and the Department of Gynecology, Lady Willingdon Hospital Lahore. Period: September to November 2019. Material & Methods: Out of 150 invited participants, 124 responded to the questionnaire. Grades of burnout were determined according to the American Public Welfare Association (APWA) inventory. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0, with qualitative statistics determined as frequency and percentages, and quantitative correlations among variables determined by application of chi-square test with p-value ≤ 0.05 as significant. Results: Out of 124 participants, 48.3% were female while the rest were male, mostly in the age group of 26-30 years (75%). Majority (50.8%) belonging to General Surgery; 32.3% were from Gynecology and Obstetrics and 16.9% were from Ophthalmology. Most of the participants (81.4%) were residents, with majority (51.6%) working 60-80 hours per week. There was high rate of burnout, with 46.3% of females and 32.8% of males reporting early burnout, and 36.6% of females along with 25% of males reporting advanced burnout. General surgeons and gynecologists were more prone to advanced burnout, while eye surgeons and residents had an increased propensity towards developing burnout. Conclusion: There is a high rate of burnout among surgical residents and consultants, attributable to increased working hours, less pay, and decreased job satisfaction. Measures should be taken to curb this trend, both for patient safety as well as for personal and mental health improvement of surgeons.