Burnout syndrome in physiotherapists working in the Podkarpackie province in Poland

BACKGROUND: Burnout is most often referred to as a syndrome of characteristic mental and somatic symptoms, which are the result of chronic stress most often associated with professional work. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of burnout syndrome among physiotherapists and its determinants related to sex, age, education, workplace, occupational activity, work experience and financial situation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eighty-six professionally active full-time physiotherapists participated in the study. Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure burnout. RESULTS: In the examined group of physiotherapists, we observed a low level of Emotional Exhaustion (x¯= 15.99) and Depersonalization level (x¯= 4.31), while Personal Accomplishment was moderate but approaching high level (x¯= 31.63). A significant relationship between sex, education, work experience, place of work, scope of professional activities, financial situation, and individual dimensions of burnout syndrome were observed. CONCLUSION: A significantly reduced sense of personal accomplishment occurred commonly in a studied group of physiotherapists. Professional burnout is most likely to occur in men, in people with higher education, in those working in hospital departments with more work experience, and those in a poor financial situation. Employers should take care of their employees' mental health as a part of burnout prophylaxis.