Burnout in Turkish Adult Neurology Specialists

Abstract

Aim: Burnout in medical doctors may worse affect patient care or physical performance of clinician. We aimed to investigate the burnout ratio and the factors associated with burnout in Turkish neurology specialists. Materials and Methods: The neurology specialists in Turkey were included in the study. The participants were asked to fill a questionnaire comprised of 33 questions regarding various thoughts and experiences. The participants gave a response to the questions as follows: strongly disagree, slightly agree, moderately agree, strongly agree, completely agree. According to the meaning value of the question (negative or positive meaning), the answer was given a point in a range of 1-5. Sum of points divided by the maximum point (165) gave a burnout ratio. Results: The mean age was 38.78 (+/- 8.42) years, and the female/male ratio was 461/255. The mean burnout ratio was found to be 46.73% (+/- 8.95). Male sex, academic membership, higher academic degree, working in medical faculty hospital, lower salary, being single or nonparent, nightshift, absence of on call work, or working in the intensive care unit were detected to be associated with a higher burnout ratio. Burnout ratio was in positive correlation with age, number of patients examined, and duration of working hours, but in negative correlation with number of auxiliary staff or neurologists in hospital. Conclusion: Our study is the first study to demonstrate a high burnout ratio in a large sample of Turkish adult neurology specialists. Being male, older, academician, professor, single or nonparent, working in medical faculty hospital or in intensive care, low salary, nightshift, and high patient number or working hours seem to be associated with burnout.