Emotional burnout syndrome in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

The pandemic of the novel coronavirus infection (NCI) has favored the development of economic, educational, political, and health crises. Healthcare workers turned out to be the most vulnerable population in terms of the risk of developing professional burnout. The additional challenges faced by healthcare staff have contributed to a multifold increase in the workload of healthcare professionals and increased susceptibility to stress and burnout. Objective. To identify the main occupational risk factors and to study the dimensions of professional burnout among the healthcare personnel of various facilities (COVID hospitals, outpatient clinics, and multidisciplinary hospitals) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subjects and methods. A survey was conducted among the healthcare staff of COVID hospitals (n=201), outpatient clinics (n=186), and multidisciplinary hospitals (n=195), as well as in the control group (n=190). The Maslach Burnout Inventory and a questionnaire survey that assesses healthcare workers’ attitude to the current situation during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic were used to study the professional burnout syndrome. Results. The Maslach Burnout Inventory demonstrated higher professional burnout rates in the healthcare workers, regardless of the place of employment. During which, there were significantly higher rates of professional exhaustion and depersonalization in the healthcare staff of COVID hospitals than in those of multidisciplinary hospitals (p≤0.001) and outpatient clinics (p≤0.001). At the same time, the healthcare staff of COVID hospitals had a significantly lower rate of reduced personal accomplishment than in those of the other facilities. In addition, the authors identified the main occupational risk factors (an organizational factor; a threat and risk of infection; stigma and social isolation) that influence the psychological health and professional burnout of healthcare workers during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion. A comparative analysis showed that all the examined groups of healthcare workers had higher professional burnout rates, as evidenced by the Maslach Burnout Inventory. At the same time, the healthcare personnel of COVID hospitals had significantly higher rates of professional exhaustion and depersonalization and lower rates of reduced personal accomplishment than those of the other facilities. The treatment of patients with NCI exposes the staff to a number of specific risk factors related to the care of infected patients, as well as to considerable work changes associated with the organization and safety of a medical process during the pandemic, which contribute to increased stress and burnout.