Prevalence of Burnout Among Health Care Workers During Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

• Published in: Professional psychology, research and practice research and practice, 2022-12, Vol.53 (6), p.564-573
• Main Authors: Parandeh, Akram, Ashtari, Sara, Rahimi-Bashar, Farshid, Gohari-Moghadam, Keivan, Vahedian-Azimi, Amir
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Burnout; Coronavirus; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Depersonalization; Distress; Emotional Exhaustion; Epidemiology; Fatigue; Health facilities; Health Personnel; Human; Medical personnel; Meta-analysis; Pandemics; Prevalence; Severity; Systematic review; Workers
• ISSN: 0735-7028; 1939-1323
• DOI: 10.1037/pro0000483

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis study was to estimate the pooled prevalence of burnout among health care workers (HCWs), who worked in health centers during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) Questionnaire. A comprehensive search based on specific terms was performed through the online studies of Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest, until January 2022. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) tool. Data analysis was carried out through the random-effects model, and the heterogeneity was investigated by I2 statistic using the software STATA Version 16. In total, seven articles with 5,022 participants were included in the final analysis. Four studies with 4,419 participants reported the prevalence of burnout as percent in moderate and severe types for all three components of burnout syndrome. Our results showed that the 45% of pooled moderate and 37% of severe levels of emotional exhaustion, 49% of pooled moderate and 18% of severe levels of depersonalization, 38% of pooled moderate and 51% of pooled severe levels of reduced personal accomplishment. Whereas six studies with 4,838 sample size reported the mean prevalence of MBI-based burnout syndrome and the mean pooled prevalence of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and accomplishment was 21.57, 7.47, and 33.48, respectively. Based on our findings, HCWs who worked in health centers during COVID-19 outbreak, experienced significant burnout. Therefore, it is necessary to design and implement programs to deal with burnout among this populations. Public Significance Statement What is the public health significance of this article? This study suggests that health care workers (HCWs) who worked in health centers during the outbreak of COVID-19 and were in direct and/or indirect contact with COVID-19 patients experienced significant burnout. Burnout among HCWs is an important issue because it not only has an impact on their quality of life, but it can potentially affect the quality of care provided, increase medical errors, reduce patient safety, and even the influence on the mental health of their families and society. Therefore, it is necessary to design and implement programs to deal with burnout among this populations.