The prevalence of burnout and depression in medical doctors working in the Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality community healthcare clinics and district hospitals of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aim: This study investigated burnout and depression in medical doctors in the context of work-related conditions and the role of resilience as a modifiable factor. Method:A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted on consenting medical doctors (n = 132) working at Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality primary healthcare facilities of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape. Data were collected from doctors at 27 facilities by means of a self-administered questionnaire battery, containing socio-demographic information, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC).Results: Of 132 doctors included in the analysis, 76% experienced burnout, as indicated by high scores in either the emotional exhaustion or depersonalisation subscales. In addition, 27% of doctors had cut-off scores on the BDI indicating moderate depression, while 3% were identified to have severe depression. The number of hours, work load, working conditions and system-related frustrations were ranked as the most important contributing factors to burnout. More experienced doctors and those with higher resilience scores had lower levels of burnout, as evident by their lower scores in the emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation domains of the MBI.Conclusion: Both burnout and depression are prevalent problems in doctors working at district level and in communities. Resilience appears to be protective and may be a useful target for future intervention.Peer reviewed.

Resilience of primary healthcare professionals: a systematic review

“…The mean age of the health professionals studied was not reported in six studies; 7,8,11,14,18,19 in the remainder, ages ranged from 20-79 years (data not shown).…”

“…All included studies were published in the last 8 years, including six in 2013, [7][8][9][10][11]13 one in 2014, 12 and one in 2015 (Table 1). 14 Study designs varied: eight were quantitative, 7,[10][11][12][13][15][16][17] four were qualitative, 9,14,18,19 and one was an intervention study. …”

“…The main aims of the quantitative studies were: investigating resilience as a modifiable factor; 7,10,11,13 and exploring factors associated with burnout. 7,11,13,15,16 Other areas investigated included compassion satisfaction, personal meaning in patient care and intolerance of uncertainty, 7 depression, 11 risk factors for alcohol use disorders, 17 occupational stress, mental health profiles and self-reported levels of physical activity, 12 career satisfaction and , work-life balance, 15 and personality traits.…”

“…9,11,13,15,16 One study involved healthcare workers (in healthcare centres, public dental care centres, and hospitals) with at least 1 year of experience (roles were not specified). 12 Qualitative studies investigated physicians from different hospital disciplines and GPs, 9 family physicians, 18 and other primary care practitioners working in a range of settings.…”

Registrar wellness in Botswana: Measuring burnout and identifying ways to improve wellness

“…[4,10,18,19] The most frequently proposed wellness interventions by the Botswanan registrars included wellness lectures, improved mentorship and registrar social events. These requests are in line with the views of global experts, who are focusing on improving wellness of registrars-in-training, where both individually focused and organisational strategies have been found to decrease burnout among physicians.…”