Cross-sectional study to evaluate burnout among pharmacy staff in Saudi Arabia during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has placed healthcare workers, including pharmacists, at an increased risk of infection and has increased their workload, which could lead to burnout. Therefore, the present study aimed to measure the levels of burnout among hospital and community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify the risk factors associated with burnout. Methods In the present cross-sectional study, an online survey was distributed among community and hospital (inpatient, outpatient, clinical, and administration) pharmacists in Saudi Arabia. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory(CBI) survey was used to measure burnout levels. This 19-item survey covered three aspects: personal, work, and patient-related burnout. The survey included questions about socio-demographic factors and the major causes of psychological distress among pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results A total of 502 pharmacists were included in the present study. Of these, 59.1% were categorized as having clinically relevant burnout levels(scores≥50). Univariate analysis revealed that the burnout level was significantly higher(p<0.05) among pharmacists who were younger, were females, had lesser years of experience, or worked in the community pharmacy. The main factors associated with high burnout levels among community pharmacists were younger age, lesser years of experience, male gender, non-Saudi nationality, and higher numbers of customers. In the COVID-19 part of the survey, burnout was found to be strongly related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fears of getting infected or of a family member getting infected, fears of the pandemic lasting for too long, and increased working hours were factors contributing to increased burnout levels during the COVID-19 pandemic with unadjusted β of 8.336 and(95% CI 7.082-9.589, p value < 0.001). A lack of supportive work culture and sleeping disturbances were also found to be related to high burnout levels(p<0.001). Conclusions Pharmacy staff in Saudi Arabia were found to experience high levels of burnout. The major risk factors causing burnout included younger age, female gender, lesser years of experience, a lack of supportive work culture, sleep disturbances, worries associated with increased workload during the pandemic, fears of getting infected, and increased working hours.

Comparison of Patient's Satisfaction with Pharmaceutical Care Services in Ownership-Based Pharmacies in Semarang, Indonesia

“…Most respondents are between 17 and 25 years old with an education diploma or bachelor's degree. The same results were also shown in previous research 15 , which explains that women were more concerned about the health of each family member, which affected the frequency of female respondents visiting the pharmacy. In addition, another previous study 16 also shows that women have an essential role as decision-makers in health services for themselves and their families.…”

The Experiences of Primary Healthcare Nurses During Covid-19 pandemic: Voices from Nursing Staff at King Fahad Specialist Hospital in Buraydah

“…Both Alsulimani et al (2021) and Grande et al (2022) found that poor communication and inadequate organizational support were issues for nursing staff during the pandemic, lending credence to our findings. This conclusion agrees with that of Aljuffali et al (2022), who found that nurses felt burdened by their workload and anxious about the possibility of contracting an infectious disease.…”

“…An earlier study in Saudi Arabia revealed that HCWs experienced job and physiological problems due to Covid-19 (Abolfotouh et al, 2020). Numerous research conducted in Saudi Arabia claimed that the Covid-19 pandemic has an adverse effect on nurses in particular (e.g., Alsulimani et al, 2021;Aljuffali et al, 2022;Alanazi et al, 2021). However, numerous studies from Saudi Arabia recommended interventions including coping mechanisms, hospital communication and support, and emotional intelligence training to lessen the possible influence of those worries on the performance of HCWs during pandemics (e.g., Alwaqdani et al, 2021;Temsah et al, 2020;Alenazi et al, 2020).…”

Community Pharmacists’ Beliefs about Suboptimal Practice during the Times of COVID-19

“…Service examples included blood pressure monitoring for antihypertensives and reporting results to prescribers for review, measuring uric acid levels for gout management, providing COVID-19 vaccinations, prescribing antibiotics for urinary tract infections, providing and prescribing antiretrovirals for active COVID-19 infections, INR testing for warfarin management, participating in rapid antigen testing for local communities, providing assistance with infection control and telehealth services. Mitigating medication shortages and contributing to reporting household domestic abuse to police was also reported, which mirrored international studies [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ].…”