Burnout Syndrome in Physical Therapists – Demographic and Organizational Factors

Abstract

Background: Professional burnout results from prolonged exposure to chronic, job-related stressors. According to Christina Maslach, professional burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. Literature includes a number of reports on burnout syndrome within health service, but hardly ever do they make any references to physiotherapists. The purpose of this study is assessment of the level of professional burnout in a group of physiotherapists and investigating relationships between the indices of burnout syndrome and selected demographic as well as organizational variables. Material and Methods: The study group consisted of 151 physiotherapists with at least 3 years of experience, employed in various health service outposts in Krakow, Poland. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. A questionnaire for the description of socio-demographic and work characteristics was used as well. Results: Job burnout among the physiotherapists was manifested by an increased emotional exhaustion and decreased sense of personal achievement. Emotional exhaustion was significantly higher among physical therapists working with adults and employed in hospitals, depersonalization was higher among men, hospital workers and employees with seniority from 15 to 19 years, personal accomplishment was decreased among men and less-educated therapists. Conclusions:The study confirmed that indicators of burnout in physiotherapists are significantly associated with selected demographic and organizational variables. It is necessary to undertake a more exhaustive study of burnout in this group of employees, and implement elements of prevention. Med Pr 2014;65(4): [453][454][455][456][457][458][459][460][461][462]

Burnout in Portuguese physiotherapists, prevalence and influencing factors

“…In the present study, age was weakly associated with emotional exhaustion but not with the global score of burnout. This is partially in line with the literature that often reports no association between burnout and age (González-Sánchez et al, 2017;Pustułka-Piwnik et al, 2014). However, other studies, although not testing directly the association between age and burnout, report that burnout prevalence is higher in physiotherapists aged 46-62 years and lower in physiotherapists aged 21-35 years (Gisbert et al, 2008).…”

“…In Poland, there are nearly 20000 physiotherapists and in a study of 151 physiotherapists, with at least 3 years of experience, the authors have described that 62% of the sampled physiotherapists have accumulated additional work due to dissatisfaction with salary (Pustułka-Piwnik, Ryn, Krzywoszański, & Stożek, 2014). Among these physiotherapists there were increased emotional exhaustion and decreased sense of personal achievement.…”

Síndrome De Burnout Em Fisioterapeutas: Uma Revisão Sistemática

“…Alguns estudos foram realizados no ambiente hospitalar sem especificar se foram realizados com trabalhadores que atuam em ambulatório, em enfermaria ou em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva 4,9,19,20,22,23,24 .…”

Design and Evaluation of a Soft and Wearable Robotic Glove for Hand Rehabilitation

“…Physical therapy has been shown to help in repairing some of this damage, with additional benefits the sooner that this therapy can begin [3], with studies suggesting that accurate projections of stroke recovery can be made as soon as 4 weeks post stroke [4]. The therapy process has the drawback of being very intensive for the therapist to conduct coupled with the fact that they can only attend directly to one patient at a time, the intensity of this helper role places considerable strain on them mentally as well as physically [5], [6], [7]. When viewed alongside the increasing numbers of patients it is inevitable that this necessity will start to apply considerable strain on healthcare budgets in the coming future.…”