Burnout in the anaesthesiologists of western Ukraine and its possible causative factors

Background
The paper deals with the problem of burnout among the anaesthesiologists of the Western Ukraine region and its causative factors. Burnout is characterized by mental and physical exhaustion owing to prolonged emotional stress.

Material and methods
105 anaesthesiologists were questioned as to the causes of job-related stress and their personal attitude to the job based on the Maslach Burnout Questionnaire. Questionnaire survey findings were compared in relation to the doctors' practical experience.

Results
Burnout symptoms were found to occur in 82% of anaesthesiologists with practical experience less than 5 years, and in 84% of doctors with practical experience above 20 years. These groups revealed high values of emotional burnout on the Maslach scale. Anaesthesiologists with 5-20 years of work experience revealed moderate levels of emotional burnout. High level of depersonalization was found in those with 5-20 years of work experience. For doctors who had less than 5 years and more than 20 years of work experience, depersonalization level was moderate.

Conclusions
The group of anaesthesiologists with more than 20 years of work experience had the highest values of professional relationship reduction. The lowest value of this component of burnout was found in the young doctors with work experience of less than 5 years. About 80% of the doctors pointed out working intensity and insufficient salary as the main causes of work-related stress.