Emotional burnout syndrome in elderly women–physicians

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a comparative study of the clinical symptoms of emotional burnout syndrome among 84 elderly women working in the specialty of physicians and 48 women who have officially ceased working in this specialty. The findings suggest that emotional burnout syndrome can take place in the elderly and is most closely associated with continued professional activity. The cessation of this working activity leads to stress, often with the subsequent development of posttraumatic stress disorder and stressinduced diseases. However, in this case, the clinical symptoms of emotional burnout syndrome do not disappear but are only transformed with joining of various psychosomatic disorders. Thus, the elderly who suffer from emotional burnout syndrome are a risk group as regards the formation and development of stress-associated diseases and require close attendance within the compulsory program of medical examination.