Professional burnout among physicians in the Аmur Region: survey analysis and risk factors

Background. Professional burnout among healthcare workers, particularly in emergency specialties such as anesthesiology, critical care, surgery, neonatology, and obstetrics, represents one of the most pressing issues in modern healthcare. In professions where the primary "tool" is the specialist's personality and the cost of error is maximal, burnout syndrome takes on the character of a professional epidemic.

Objective – to comprehensively study and analyze the current level of professional burnout, its structure, and its main determinants among physicians in the Amur Region.

Material and methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 66 physicians from the Amur Region, including 39 (59.1%) anesthesiologists-intensivists and 9 (13.6%) neonatologists. The sample also included pediatricians (n=6), surgeons (n=5), internists (n=4), ophthalmologists (n=2), and neurologists (n=1). Professional burnout was assessed using the adapted Russian-language version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient (r), Student's t-test, and ANOVA were used for group comparisons. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.

Results. The findings of a study confirm a high level of professional burnout among physicians working under conditions of increased workload and stress, consistent with national and international studies. Frequent or very frequent symptoms of emotional exhaustion were reported by 32.3% of physicians, morning fatigue by 29.2%, high effort expenditure by 26.2%, and depletion of emotional resources by 23.1%. Hospital-based work increased the risk of professional burnout compared to outpatient practice (r=0.45, p<0.01).

Conclusion. Among all medical specialties, the most vulnerable are anesthesiologists-intensivists, surgeons, neonatologists, and emergency physicians – those who work under chronic stress, with irregular schedules, frequent night shifts, and constant exposure to critical conditions and fatal outcomes. There is a need to rethink risk factors and develop adaptive prevention strategies.

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