Burnout syndrome: prevalence in health professionals working in the area of oncology

Abstract

Healthcare professionals who work in the area of caregiving are responsible for the ongoing care of patients and therefore are more vulnerable to burnout. The objective of this study is to evaluate the levels of stress in health professionals, and to analyze the quality of life, and the level of anxiety and depression among these individuals. A cross-sectional study was carried out with professionals working in the oncology unit, both men and women, over 18 years of age, who agreed to participate in the study and signed an informed consent form. Participants completed the evaluation form and completed the SF-36 Quality of Life, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) questionnaire. We evaluated 54 professionals, predominantly female and young. When comparing quality of life and level of anxiety or depression among the different subgroups of employees, it was possible to observe that, in the dimensions of emotional exhaustion and low professional achievement, individuals with higher stress had worse quality of life and higher level of anxiety and depression. For the dimension of depersonalization, only anxiety was higher in subjects with moderate stress. This study demonstrated that many professionals have moderate or high degree of professional stress and that this was associated with greater anxiety and depression and poorer quality of life. These results may provide useful insights to improve the physical and mental health of health care professionals