Burnout and the Psychological Impact among Physiatrists in Saudi Arabia during COVID-19

Ahmad H. Alwashmi and Abdulmajeed A. Alkhamees
Additional contact information
Ahmad H. Alwashmi: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, College of Medicine, Qassim University, Buraydah 52571, Saudi Arabia
Abdulmajeed A. Alkhamees: Department of Medicine, Unaizah College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah 52571, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-11

Abstract: Background: Burnout is an emerging critical issue facing specialists and trainees in all disciplines and not particularly studied among physiatry specialists and trainees in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To assess physiatrist burnout, depression, anxiety, and stress during the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis in Saudi Arabia. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: By distributing an electronic survey, the researcher assessed burnout using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) Human Services Survey (HSS) in the midst of the curfew that Saudi authorities imposed. Participants: One hundred one participating trainees, specialists, and consultants. Results: Of the 101 study participants, the majority (73.3%) were between the ages of 24 and 34 years old, with the rest distributed within the age group ranging from 35 to 65 years old. Junior residents represented 34.7%, senior residents 22.8%, physiatrist specialists 26.7%, and consultants 15.8%. The sample included 55.4% males and 44.6% females; 64.4% of the participants were married, 29.7% were still single, and 5.9% were divorced. Among the total group participating, 25.7% were handling COVID-19 patients. In the total participant sample, 80.2% reported experiencing burnout, 10.9% experienced stress, and 22.8% and 6.9% experienced anxiety and depression, respectively. Conclusion: Burnout in Saudi Arabia exists among more than two-thirds of practicing physiatrists in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R), and that did not appear to have a statistically significant influence on stress, anxiety, or depression ( p > 0.05). The current COVID-19 global pandemic might escalate burnout and influence mental health outcomes. The healthcare authority and administration should take the lead in identifying the challenges, overcoming the obstacles, and optimizing clinician well-being, delivering up-to-date solutions, and promptly checking their effectiveness.

Keywords: burnout; COVID-19; anxiety; depression; physiatry; physical medicine and rehabilitation; Saudi Arabia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9621/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9621/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9621-:d:634104

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().