Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15516/cje.v21i4.3352
Correlates of Burnout Syndrome among Belgrade Medical Students – A Cross-Sectional Study
Jelena Bogdan Ilić Živojinović
orcid.org/0000-0001-7607-1313
; Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of BelgradeDr Subotica 8, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Dušan Backović
orcid.org/0000-0002-3373-3628
; Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of BelgradeDr Subotica 8, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Ivan Soldatović
orcid.org/0000-0003-4893-1683
; Institute of Medical Statistics and Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of BelgradeDr Subotića 15, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Goran Belojević
; Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of BelgradeDr Subotica 8, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Abstract
Main objective: There are still gaps in the knowledge about the factors that influence
burnout among medical students. This study examines the relationship between the
length of medical studies, academic achievement, self-estimated health and burnout.
Sample: We administered an anonymous questionnaire to 769 second-year and sixthyear
medical students (69.2 % females) to collect data on age, sex, length of study,
average grade, and self-estimated mental and physical health.
Methods: The students completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) on emotional
exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and personal accomplishment (PA) subscales.
Results: The sophomores experienced a higher level of emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization and personal accomplishment compared to the students in the
sixth year (MBI scores – EE /29.03±11.02 vs. 23.73±10.91/; DP /16.23±5.95 vs.
13.93±5.82/ PA /32.26±7.18 vs. 30.46±7.91/ respectively, all p < 0.001). The poorer
self-estimated mental and physical health, in comparison to the period before their
studies, was positively related to the scores on EE (ρ =0.381 and 0.257, respectively)
and DP subscales (ρ =0.296 and 0.209, respectively) and negatively to PA subscale
(ρ =-0.211 and -0.121, respectively, all p <0.001). The higher the average grade, the
lower depersonalization and the higher personal accomplishment were found among
the students (ρ = -0.094 and 0.121, respectively; p < 0,05). Low self-estimated health
status and poorer academic achievement were the main explanatory factors of a high
burnout level in a multiple regression analysis.
Conclusion: The burnout syndrome is more pronounced at the beginning of medical
studies compared to the final years. A high level of burnout is mainly influenced by
low self-estimated health status and worse academic achievement
Keywords
burnout; mental health; stress; students
Hrčak ID:
235895
URI
Publication date:
19.12.2019.
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