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Introduction. A sense of burnout may seriously impair one’s functioning and well-being. It may also hamper the quality of care over a patient. The present study therefore assesses sleep quality and chronotype as predictors of a sense of burnout in physicians and nurses of a district hospital. Material and methods. The study group comprised 16 physicians and 31 nurses of a district hospital in Central Poland. The participants completed the Link Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ), Chronotype Questionnaire, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory. A linear regression model was constructed for each LBQ dimension by means of stepwise elimination. Each model was adjusted to empirical data (p<0.05). Results. A rise in Psychophysical exhaustion was predicted by greater scores for Morningness-Eveningness (ME) and Distinctness (DI) of the rhythm. A higher ME score was associated with higher scores in Relationship deterioration and Sense of professional ineffectiveness, with the latter also associated with presence in the nurses group. The nurses group also demonstrated higher Disillusionment and Psychophysical exhaustion scores than the physicians group. Conclusions. Eveningness predicted greater burnout in the studied sample. Thus, chronotype should be considered an important burnout risk factor and it can act as a starting point for devising behavioural interventions.

Burnout syndrome can be described as a set of psychological and somatic responses to chronic stress related to professional work. The aim of this study was to verify whether chronotype and social jetlag (SJL) are predictors of burnout symptoms among physical therapists. The studied sample consisted of 61 physical therapists. Variables of interest included raw scores of the following tools: the Link Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ), Chronotype Questionnaire (CQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and an authored questionnaire regarding sociodemographics and information required to calculate SJL. Linear regression models were constructed to predict LBQ dimension scores. An increase in the Psychophysical Exhaustion score was associated with a decrease in CQ Morningness-Eveningness (ME) score, an increase in CQ Distinctness of the Rhythm (DI) score and a decrease in SJL. Also, the Psychophysical Exhaustion score was higher for subjects reporting fairly poor quality sleep (PSQI) than for rating it as very good. An interaction was identified between SJL and ME. An increase in Sense of Professional Ineffectiveness was predicted by a decreased SJL score, and increased Disillusionment was associated with higher DI score. Both chronotype and SJL may prove useful predictors of certain aspects of burnout among physical therapists, but they should be considered together.