C. Jácome1,2, A. Seixas3, A. Teixeira1,2, L. Castro2,4, C. Serrão5,6, I. Duarte1
1Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Department of Community Medicine, Information and Health Decision Sciences (MEDCIDS), Porto, Portugal, 2Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Porto, Portugal, 3Fundação Fernando Pessoa, Escola Superior de Saúde, Porto, Portugal, 4Politécnico do Porto, Escola Superior de Saúde, Porto, Portugal, 5Politécnico do Porto, Escola Superior de Educação, Porto, Portugal, 6Politécnico do Porto, Centro de Investigação e Inovação em Educação (INeD), Porto, Portugal
Background: COVID-19 pandemic has increased the pressure over healthcare systems worldwide and healthcare workers were exposed to high workloads and multiple psychosocial stressors. Physiotherapists were one of the groups of healthcare workers that were most affected. Yet the negative consequences over their well-being are yet to be explored.
Purpose: The aim of this study is to describe the burnout experienced by physiotherapists during the COVID-19 pandemic and to analyse the role of possible predictors of this occupational phenomenon.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study based on a web-based survey applied to physiotherapists living in Portugal. The study was approved by the ethical committee of São João Hospital Center (Ref 184/2020). The survey, spread via social networks and professional organizations during May 2020, included sociodemographic and clinical practice questions, the Copenhagen burnout inventory (CBI), with its three dimensions (personal-, work- and patient-related burnout), the resilience scale from Wagnild and Young and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress scales (DASS-21). Multivariate linear regression models were built to predict the three burnout dimensions.
Results: A total of 511 physiotherapists (36±10 years old, 82% females) from all over the country completed the survey. The participants worked mainly in private practice (50%), wards (35%) and intensive/intermediate care units (14%). During COVID-19, only 52% were working directly with patients, with 18% specifically working with COVID-19 patients. Physiotherapists reported high degrees of personal- (42%), work- (42%) and patient-related burnout (25%). Physiotherapists working directly with patients reported significantly higher scores of personal-related burnout (p=0.001), work-related burnout (p=0.043) and anxiety (p=0.019). Three significant multivariate models explained personal- (R2=51%; p<0.001), work- (R2=31%; p<0.001) and patient- (R2=16%; p<0.001) related burnout. Lower levels of resilience and higher levels of depression and stress were significantly associated with personal- (B=-0.11, B=1.31, B=1.72, respectively, where B is the unstandardized regression coefficient), work- (B=-0.08, B=1.27, B=1.08) and patient-related (B=-0.12, B=0.93, B=0.90) burnout. Being female (B=7.72, B=4.28) and working directly with patients (B=4.55, B=3.23) were additionally associated with both personal- and work-related burnout. Having health problems (B=3.59) and working with COVID-19 patients (B=4.78) were only associated with personal-related burnout.
Conclusion(s): More than 40% of physiotherapists experienced high levels of personal- and work-related burnout and 25% experienced patient-related burnout. All three burnout dimensions were predicted with a specific set of covariates, with resilience, depression and stress having a relevant role.
Implications: These three burnout dimensions and its major predictors are important to consider when developing prevention and early detection strategies to help physiotherapists improve their resilience and coping ability.
Funding, acknowledgements: Not funded
Keywords: resilience, emotional state, multivariate logistic regression
Topic: COVID-19
Did this work require ethics approval? Yes
Institution: São João Hospital Center
Committee: Ethics Committee of São João Hospital Center
Ethics number: Ref 184/2020 on May 7th, 2020
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
