Epidemiology of Burnout and Its Association with Academic Performance Among Medical Students at Hail University, Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES: Burnout syndrome is a condition that is well-documented globally among medical students and affects their academic performance due to high levels of associated stress and psychiatric morbidities. This study aimed to assess burnout prevalence and predictors along with its association with academic performance among medical students at Hail University, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey of medical students was conducted between May and June 2019 at the Medical College at Hail University. The English version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)-Student Survey was used to assess the three components of burnout syndrome—cynicism, emotional exhaustion and professional efficacy. A fixed-model multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted for each of the three MBI components’ levels and for total burnout to identify factors significantly associated with burnout syndrome. RESULTS: A total of 218 students were included in this study (response rate: 53.8%). The majority of participants were female (n = 121; 55.5%) medical students ranging between 21–24 years of age. High emotional exhaustion, high cynicism and low professional efficacy was found among 79.4%, 61.0%, and 37.6%, respectively, of respondents. The overall prevalence of high burnout was 27.1% (n = 59). Female students were at almost double the risk for high emotional exhaustion compared to male students (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.14, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06–4.34; P = 0.034). Students with grade point averages (GPA; on a four-point scale) ranging between 3.51–4.0 were considerably less prone (83% less risk) to experience burnout as compared to students with a GPA ≤2.0 (AOR = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.03–0.91, P = 0.039). CONCLUSION: High levels of overall burnout were reported among Hail University medical students. Students with a higher GPA, however, were found to be less prone to burnout.