Background: Emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), as well as a diminished sense of personal accomplishment (PA) was identified as the three subscales defining the burnout syndrome, all of which contribute to a person's inefficiency on the job. More than half of all physicians experience severe burnout.
Objectives: The aim of the current study was to evaluate burnout rates among resident physicians in Suez Canal University hospitals and to evaluate their relationship with self-reported suboptimal patient care practices.
Subjects and methods: A convenience sample of 150 hospital resident physicians was used for the present cross-sectional study. Six items relating to self-reported suboptimal patient care practices as well as the Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to collect data.
Results: Nearly two-thirds of the participants fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of burnout. Prevalence of burnout among female physicians was significantly higher than among males (71.3% versus 44.9%),especially in the EE subscale (20.00±1.67 versus 13.8 ±4.22, P<0.000) and DP subscale (22.59±9.22 versus 14.69±10.30, P=0.009). The highest burnout rates were reported among residents in the third year of residency (76.9%). Suboptimal care showed a higher significant report by residents with burnout than non-burnout participants.
Conclusions: Burnout is frequent among hospital resident physicians. Significant effect of burnout on the high occurrence of suboptimal care among hospital residents was observed. Attention should be paid to identifying policies to decrease the occurrence of burnout among the affected groups and to reduce suboptimal patient care.