Occupational burnout of doctors: characteristics of generations

BACKGROUND: Medical care quality improvement is one of the relevant aspects of healthcare development in the Russian Federation. However, healthcare workers are susceptible to occupational burnout syndrome due to the nature of their activities, which prevents care quality improvement. The literature indicated that the level of professional burnout varies among the representatives of different generations.

AIM: This study aimed to compare the level of occupational burnout, the factors of its development, and the relationship with labor parameters among doctors of different generations in the Tomsk region.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study used the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) questionnaire as well as several additional questions.

RESULTS: The study involved 1669 physicians representing all generations. Due to the small number of individual generation representatives, they were distributed into three main groups: generation 3 represented by millennials and generation Z (n = 630), generation 2 included generation X (n = 783), and generation 1 included silent generation and boomers (n = 256). Doctors of generation 1 have the lowest workload. Generation 3 representatives have, on average, a higher level of depersonalization and reduction in professional achievements. Generation 2 doctors showed the highest level of emotional exhaustion compared to other generations. The lowest scores for all subscales of the MBI questionnaire were registered among the generation 1 doctors. Significant factors in the development of professional burnout in the younger generation include workplace dissatisfaction, lack of sleep, and the rare use of whole annual leave, which was most common in generation 3.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on the study results, we can conclude that measures to prevent professional burnout should be separately selected for each generation.