Electronic diary evidence on energy erosion in clinical burnout.

Abstract

Burnout is generally defined as a state of severe exhaustion. So far, research has predominantly focused on relatively mild burnout in employees able to work despite their complaints. This study examines energy depletion in clinical burnout (e.g., the severest cases on extended sick leave) by comparing the diurnal patterns of fatigue and exhaustion with those of healthy individuals. Sixty clinically burned-out and 40 healthy participants kept an electronic diary for 14 days, 7 times a day, yielding a total of 8,116 diary entries. This study shows that burned-out individuals typically suffer continuously from a severe fatigue throughout the day. The resulting flattened diurnal cycles mark a stable exhaustion that is uncommon in healthy persons. The current results provide novel support for the existence of severe energy erosion in clinical burnout.

Occupational Burnout and Severe Injuries: An Eight‐year Prospective Cohort Study among Finnish Forest Industry Workers

“…19), indicating that the association between burnout and injuries was not moderated by the time elapsed between the survey and injury, therefore justifying the use of proportional hazard models. The interaction effects between burnout and sex or age group on injuries were not statistically significant (p>0.32).…”

“…About 30% of them are workrelated 21) . It also has been shown that burnt-out individuals suffer from severe fatigue throughout the day 19) and that burnout may spill over to other life domains 20) . Therefore, if the worker is burned out, he or she may be injured also outside the work domain, for example, during commutation, at home, or in leisure time.…”

“…Burnout is a chronic condition that typically prevails and remains stable over time 6,15) . It has been shown that burnt-out individuals suffer from severe fatigue throughout the day 19) and that burnout easily spills over to other life domains 20) . Therefore, it is possible that burnout will increase the risk of all kinds of injuries, not just the ones occurring at work.…”

Influence of sleep on symptom improvement and return to work in clinical burnout

“…The variables under study were measured with singular diary items, according to the premises of the Experience Sampling Method (ie, items were to measure states instead of constructs and mimic an internal dialogue) and thus needed to be short and easy to comprehend (32). Exhaustion was defined as a severe and stable form of fatigue that is no longer responsive to normal periods of rest and emerges only when fatigue becomes chronic (33)(34)(35). Exhaustion was measured by the statement "Right now I feel exhausted".…”

Industrial location, spatial discrete choice models and the need to account for neighbourhood effects

“…Note that this sample has been used before in another different study on energy erosion and burnout (see : Sonnenschein, Sorbi, van Doornen, Schaufeli, & Maas, 2007).…”