BackgroundTo the best of our knowledge, studies are lacking on burnout among veterinary students in Serbia, and this is the first study trying to address such a problem. Therefore, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the predictors of burnout among Belgrade veterinary students. MethodsMaslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and anonymous structured questionnaire addressed to personal data, health habits and stressful influence of educational process were applied among 496 respondents from a total of 1113 students from all grades in spring semester 2014 (response rate 44.6%). ResultsThe prevalence of burnout was 43.3%. High scores on depersonalization and emotional exhaustion scales of MBI were found among 79.4% and 45.0% students, respectively; low personal accomplishment was reported by 50.5% students. Female students reported higher levels of emotional exhaustion compared to males (p = 0.012). A low score on personal achievement scale of MBI was least frequent among the freshmen and most frequent among sophomores (41.1% and 65.3%, respectively; p = 0.986). There were more students with burnout who considered their health as a worsened vs. pre-study period compared to students with no burnout, both concerning mental (61.4% vs. 38.6%) and physical health (61.1% vs. 38.9%; both p<0.001). There were more smokers among students who suffered from burnout compared to students who did not (52.0% vs. 48.0%; p = 0.013). A multiple regression revealed an independent dose-response effect of perceived stress at exams on the onset of burnout (moderate stress OR = 2.164 and high stress OR = 3.878). Also, students with the moderate and high stressful effect of communication with teaching staff, as PLOS ONE

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Academic stress makes great influence on mental health of medical students. Reduction of stress effects should be directed to optimization of the examination process and improvement of communication skills.