Use of the Maslach Burnout Inventory Among Public Health Care Professionals: Scoping Review

Abstract

Background Work can be considered a source of living, well-being, and socioeconomic development. When the work environment negatively influences individuals, it may trigger emotional disturbances, behavioral problems, chronic stress conditions, and illnesses such as burnout syndrome (BS). Recently, studies on BS have increased and placed a special focus on health care professionals. The prevalence of BS among health professionals is associated with their chronic exposure to human hardship and long working hours without proper rest. These factors have contributed to greater stress and high physical and emotional exhaustion levels. Objective This study aims to identify and map studies using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) scale to identify burnout syndrome in health professionals working in public health services. Methods This scoping review was developed based on the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Reviewers Manual and reported according to the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews). A total of 6 databases were searched to identify relevant studies: Embase, LILACS, MEDLINE or PubMed, PsycInfo, Scopus, and Web of Science. Gray literature was consulted on ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, Google Scholar, Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, and Open Access Theses and Dissertations. Additionally, the reference lists were searched to retrieve studies not previously selected. The steps followed in this study were proposed by Arskey and O’Malley and Levac, Colquhoun, and O’Brien: identification of research questions, identification of potential studies, study selection, data extraction and imputation, data analyses and interpretation, and consultation with stakeholders. The detailed methodology was published in a protocol. Results A total of 55 articles were identified after screening for eligibility criteria, published between 1999 and 2021 in 32 countries. Most reports were published in Brazil, Spain, and China. A total of 22 versions of the MBI were identified, presenting different items, scores, and cutoff points. The included studies had recommendations and implications for clinical practice. The consultation with stakeholders allowed knowledge translation for those interested in BS. Conclusions Studies mostly included physicians (34/55, 61.8%) and nurses (24/55, 43.6%), and the original version of MBI was predominantly used. Divergences in BS classification were highlighted, which may be related to MBI cross-cultural adaptations and applications in other countries. This study contributes to the advancement of research regarding burnout syndrome as an occupational illness since it has harmful consequences for workers, health care services, and the quality of care provided to the population.

The Community Primary Care Champions Fellowship: a mixed methods evaluation of an interprofessional fellowship for physician assistants and physicians

“…Another impact our fellowship demonstrated was improvement in fellows’ emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, but not in stress, work engagement, or personal achievement. At baseline, the scores for our fellows were similar compared to other published reports on clinician burnout [ 11 , 12 ]. Given that burnout is driven by systems-level factors rather than individual factors, the high rates of burnout and limited improvement in fellows’ wellness indicators even after training in individual and organizational wellness further proves the importance of training leaders in primary care transformation.…”

“…More recently the Quintuple Aim in health care has introduced health equity as its own pillar to improve both the care setting for health care professionals and the care and health of underrepresented and minoritized patient populations, further emphasizing the need for advocacy and leadership in primary care [ 10 ]. Additionally, given that close to 50% of clinicians in direct patient care experience burnout syndrome, and given an increasing aging population and complexity of patients, transformation of primary care is more critical than ever to meet the needs of patients and clinicians [ 3 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Considering Burnout and Well-Being: Emergency Medicine Resident Shift Scheduling Platform and Satisfaction Insights from a Quality Improvement Project

“…A recent survey employing the validated and widely used Maslach Burnout Inventory demonstrated that over 75% of emergency medicine resident physicians experience burnout—an occupational phenomenon defined by the World Health Organization as a syndrome “resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed” [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. The etiology of burnout is multifactorial, but it is inherently both an occupational patient safety and physician wellness issue.…”

Design and Implementation of a Brief Digital Mindfulness and Compassion Training App for Health Care Professionals: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Health care professionals receive intensive hands-on education and training so they may serve as resilient healers. Yet, with high workloads and multitasking demands, physicians can become vulnerable to workplace stress while making critical life-altering decisions for patients [ 1 , 2 ]. Evidence shows high rates of physician burnout (“workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” International Classification of Diseases , World Health Organization), currently estimated at 44%, which is much higher than burnout in other professions [ 3 , 4 ].…”

“…Relative to a no-contact or business-as-usual control group, we evaluated the primary outcomes of change in mindfulness and self-compassion and monitored sessions of training engagement. While we additionally measured burnout, we did not expect this outcome to change with individual-focused training because it has been shown that organization-directed workplace interventions are more effective at addressing burnout [ 1 , 25 ] and burnout was also observed to be low in our sample. Thus, our main goal in this study was to examine whether mindfulness and compassion can be enhanced by brief digitally delivered practice sessions for health care professionals.…”