Background: Decisions by anaesthesiologists directly impact the treatment, safety, recovery and quality of life of patients. Physical or mental collapse due to overwork or stress (burnout) in anaesthesiologists may, therefore, be expected to negatively affect patients, departments, healthcare facilities and families.
Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of burnout among anaesthesiologists in Belgrade public teaching hospitals.
Design: A cross-sectional survey.
Setting: Anaesthesiologists in 10 Belgrade teaching hospitals.
Main outcome measures: Burnout was assessed using Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey.
Results: The response rate was 76.2% (205/272) with the majority of respondents women (70.7%). The prevalence of total burnout among anaesthesiologists in Belgrade teaching hospitals was 6.34%. Measured level of burnout as assessed by high emotional exhaustion, high depersonalisation and low personal accomplishment was 52.7, 12.2 and 28.8%, respectively. More than a quarter of the studied population responded in each category with symptoms of moderate burnout. We detected that sex, additional academic education, marital status and working conditions were risk factors for emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Ageing increased the likelihood of burnout by 21.3% with each additional year. Shorter professional experience and increased educational accomplishment increased the risk of total burnout by 272%.
Conclusion: Burnout rates in Belgrade teaching hospitals among anaesthesiologists are higher than in foreign hospitals. Emotional and/or physical breakdowns can have serious effects when these individuals care for patients in extremely stressed situations that may occur perioperatively. Causes for burnout should be examined more closely and means implemented to reverse this process.