Predictors of burnout among resident doctors in a Nigerian teaching hospital.

BACKGROUND

Burnout is a psychological syndrome resulting from exposure to chronic work-related stress. There are, however, a few works of literature on burnout among trainee doctors in Nigeria.

AIM: To determine the prevalence of burnout and its predictors among resident doctors across 16 medical specialties and/or subspecialties.

SETTING

The University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Nigeria.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 176 resident doctors between October 2020 and January 2021. The survey included the Proforma and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel (MBI-HSS MP).

RESULTS

The mean age of participants was 35.10 (SD 4.07) years. The prevalence of burnout was 21.6% for high emotional exhaustion (EE), 13.6% for high depersonalization (DP), and 30.7% for low personal accomplishment (PA). Being a younger resident doctor aged 31-35 (OR = 3.715, 95% CI [1.270 - 10.871]) was the only significant predictor for the EE. Predictors of DP included the age group 31-35 years (OR = 7.143, 95% CI [2.297 - 22.216]), duty hours >50 hours per week (OR = 2.984, 95% CI [1.203 - 7.401]), and presence of work-related stress (OR = 3.701, 95% CI [1.315 - 10.421]). A good relationship with colleagues negatively predicted low PA (OR = 0.221, 95% CI [0.086 - 0.572]).

CONCLUSION

High levels of burnout are prevalent among resident doctors, comparable to international studies. Therefore, the government and other relevant stakeholders must drive legislation and formulate policies toward addressing the work-related factors associated with burnout in the Nigerian healthcare industry.

CONTRIBUTION: This study highlighted the determinants of burnout among Nigerian resident doctors, which necessitates targeted interventions to address them.