Prevalence and Risk Factors of Burnout Syndrome during COVID-19 Pandemic among Healthcare Providers in Thailand

OBJECTIVE: To study prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic related to Burnout syndrome (BOS) among Thai healthcare providers (HCPs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study among HCPs, involved in caring for patients during the pandemic in two periods (1st period, May–Jun 2021, and 2nd period, Sep-Oct 2021). Data were distributed using electronic questionnaires. BOS was defined if respondents exhibited a high level of at least one domain in the Maslach Burnout Inventory criteria. The primary outcome was prevalence of BOS. RESULTS: Altogether, 2,027 and 1,146 respondents were enrolled in the 1st and 2nd periods, respectively. Most respondents were female (73.3, 68.2%). The top three job positions were physicians (49.2, 58.9%), nurses (41.2, 30.6%), and nursing assistants (4.8, 6.5%), respectively. No difference was found in overall prevalence of Burnout syndrome during the 1st and 2nd periods (73 vs. 73.5%, p=0.80). Using multivariate analysis, significant risk factors for Burnout syndrome in both periods were (1) living with family (odds ratio (OR) 1.3 and 1.5), (2) tertiary care hospital (OR 1.92 and 2.13), (3) nurse (OR 1.38 and 2.29), (4) nursing assistant (OR 0.92 and 4.81), (5) salary ≤40,000 THB (OR 1.53 and 1.53), (6) >20 patients per shift (OR 1.55 and 1.88), (7) >6 shifts after hours monthly (OR 1.26 and 1.49), and (8) ≤1 rest day weekly (OR 1.3 and 1.4). CONCLUSION: We found a high prevalence of Burnout syndrome among Thai HCPs during the pandemic. Knowing those risk factors may provide a strategy to BOS during the pandemic.