Burnout and Coping Strategies in Primary Care Physicians from Unidade Local de Saúde de Matosinhos

Abstract

Background: Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by long-term involvement in situations of high emotional demands in the workplace. Medicine is one of the most stressful areas and Primary Health Care Physicians are those who are at greater risk of burnout. The adopted coping strategies by these professionals are crucial for the transition from increased levels of stress to burnout.
Aims: Assess the prevalence and severity of the burnout level in specialist and resident physicians of Primary Health Care belonging to ULSM; assess the relationship between burnout level and socio-demographic and professional variables in this sample; assess the relationship between the burnout level and coping strategies of the professionals in the sample.
Methods: An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study with an analytical component was performed. A socio-demographic questionnaire, the Burnout Inventory and the Latack Coping Job Scale were applied to a sample of 52 physicians (n = 140) from ULSM, and the data analysis was obtained through SPSS.
Results: The response rate was 37.1% (52 in 140 physicians). Of these professionals, 40 were women, 51.9% were married and 69.2% were specialists in Primary Health Care (the rest were speciality residents). The total burnout level was 3.06 ± 0.64. USF Progresso presented the highest values (38.20 ± 4.51), followed by USF Horizonte (32.33 ± 5.83) and USF Dunas (31.50 ± 5.01). There were no differences between the marital status or the academic degree and level of burnout or coping mechanisms. No significant correlational effect was found between burnout and coping mechanisms in general (r = 0.289, p> 005), with the exception of the positive correlation between the control factor and the personal achievement dimension (r = .407, p <.05).
Discussion and Conclusions: In the present study, a total burnout level of 3.06 ± 0.64 was found, in agreement with the results of burnout obtained in other studies in Portugal in Physicians. No significant correlational effect was found between burnout and coping strategies in general, although there was a positive correlation between the control factor and the personal realization dimension.