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Significance of working conditions on burnout in anesthetists.

Lederer W, Kinzl JF, Trefalt E, Traweger C, Benzer A

Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria. wolfgang.lederer@uibk.ac.at

BACKGROUND: The influence of working conditions on the development of burnout syndrome was assessed in anesthetists working at a university hospital. METHODS: Self-reporting questionnaires were used to assess physical health and emotional well-being (Health and Stress Profile), burnout syndrome (Maslach Burnout Inventory) and working conditions (Instrument for Stress-Oriented Task Analysis) in anesthetists. RESULTS: Twenty-three anesthetists (25.8%) appeared to be at risk for burnout, and three anesthetists (3.4%) had already developed full-blown burnout syndrome. Anesthetists at risk for burnout more frequently suffered from limited complexity of work (P=0.001), lacking individual time control (P=0.004), lack of participation possibilities (P=0.012), and had more physical complaints (P=0.017) and greater job dissatisfaction (P=0.002) than did their colleagues with no burnout symptoms. CONCLUSION: Job conditions providing little opportunity to influence work pace and participation contribute to the development of burnout syndrome. Communication and contact with colleagues appear to be an important preventive regulative.

Published 2 February 2006 in Acta Anaesthesiol Scand, 50(1): 58-63.
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