A cross-sectional study assessing the alarming prevalence of burnout among physicians in a developing country facing a combination of a COVID-19 Pandemic and an economic collapse

Abstract

Background: Burnout among physicians is a serious concern that cultivates its seeds during their education and matures in their daily practicing life. Lebanese physicians were particularly at high risk of burnout since they confronted a mixture of overlapping crises. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of burnout among Lebanese physicians, to investigate its associated factors and to explore the combined effects of the pandemic and the economic crisis on burnout. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among Lebanese physicians over December 2020 using a snowball sampling technique. Self-reported data were collected electronically through an anonymous questionnaire that included information on socio-demographic characteristics, work-related variables, and 4 scales: fear of COVID-19, threat perception, InCharge Financial Distress/Financial Well-Being, and the Copenhagen burnout inventory (CBI). CBI scale cut-off score of 50 was used to evaluate the prevalence of burnout. Multivariable linear regression analyses were carried out to identify the factors associated with burnout. Results: A total of 398 physicians participated in the study. The majority of them were male (52.8%), married (60.1%), and aged between 40 and 49 years (43.2%). Burnout hits 90.7% of the Lebanese physicians where personal, work-related, and client-related burnout were detected among 80.4%, 75.63%, and 69.6% of them respectively. A strong association was found between the higher level of burnout and female gender, younger age, being single, having a dependent child, living with an elderly or having a family member with comorbidities, and insufficient sleeping hours. Physicians’ specialties, working in a public health facility, limited years of professional experience, lack of previous experience in pandemic and extensive working hours were also associated with increased burnout. Furthermore, low income, working in the frontline, higher threat perception, and fear of COVID-19 were contributing to higher burnout. However, financial wellbeing, altruism, having good health, and previous history of COVID-19 were significantly associated to lower burnout. The combined effect of threat perception and financial hardship significantly increased the level of burnout. Conclusion: The huge burnout level among Lebanese physicians raises alarm about the seriousness of the current situation and urges the health authorities to take prompt action to enhance the physicians’ wellbeing.