Background and Aims: COVID-19 is a major challenge for Health Care Workers (HWCs), who are at risk of contact infec¬tion. This can cause psychological issues such as anxiety, fear, and most importantly, burnout. The last-mentioned can decrease effectiveness at work and jeopardize the efficacy of delivering patient care. Our aim is to measure burnout levels among HCWs directly exposed to COVID-19 and assess associated factors.
Methods: A cross-sectional online questionnaire was distributed through social media to HCWs, from June to October 2020. The questionnaire had two sections. The first section contained questions about socio¬demographic data and associated factors. The second, was the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI).
Results: A total of 1050 HCWs agreed to participate in the study. 62% were female. 93.4% were Saudi. 38.3% worked with COVID-19 patients, 42.3% had increased work hours, and 58.7% practiced self-isola¬tion. The mean (SD) for personal burnout, 3.47 (0.84), and work-related burnout, 3.41 (0.81), were high, but moderate for patient-related burnout, 3.09 (1.00). Factors associated with burnout levels were gender, age, occupation, marital status, working in isolation hospitals, working with COVID-19 patients, increased work hours, and self-isolation practices.
Conclusions: HCWs are prone to many mental health problems. Many studies were conducted in Saudi Arabia concerning HCWs burnout after pervious outbreaks, however there were not enough measures taken to avoid high levels of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study highlights the magnitude of burnout problems among HCWs. Efforts must be undertaken by health institutions to support the mental wellbeing of HCWs.
Key words: Burnout, COVID-19, HCW, Mental health, Pandemic.
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