The prevalence of burnout syndrome and its association with adherence to safety and practice standards among anesthetists working in Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Burnout amongst healthcare professionals is a serious challenge affecting health care practice and quality of care. The ongoing pandemic has highlighted this on a global level. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of burnout syndrome and its association with adherence to safety and practice standards among non-physician anesthetists in Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst non-physician anesthetists throughout Ethiopia in January 2020 utilizing an online validated questionnaire containing sociodemographic characteristics, symptoms of burnout using the 22 items of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) scale, 10 questions designed to evaluate the best practice of providers, and 7 questions evaluating self-reported errors. The MBI-HSS questions assessed depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment. A high level of burnout was defined as a respondent with an emotional exhaustion score ≥27, a depersonalization score ≥10, and a personal accomplishment score ≤33 in the MBI-HSS subscales. Bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with burnout. RESULTS: Out of a total of 650 anesthetists approached, 400 responded, a response rate of 61.5%. High levels of burnout were identified in 17.3% of Ethiopian anesthesia providers. Significant burnout scores were found in academic anesthetists (p = 0.01), and were associated with less years of anesthesia experience (p < 0.001), consuming >5 alcoholic drinks per week (p = 0.02), and parenthood (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: We found that non physician anesthetists working in Ethiopia is suffering by high levels of burnout. The problem is alarming in those working at academic environments and less experienced.