Servir Saúde Health Care Centre from Almada-Seixal Group of Health Care Centres, Regional Health Administration of Lisbon and Tagus Valley, Portugal.
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
J Eval Clin Pract. 2020 Feb;26(1):216-222. doi: 10.1111/jep.13147. Epub 2019 Apr 14.
RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of burnout among medical doctors and its negative effect on empathy can influence therapeutic success. The aim of this study was to compare the levels of empathy and burnout between residents and specialists as well as to study the correlation between empathy and burnout.
This is an exploratory study of a convenience sample of 104 doctors who work in health institutions in Greater Lisbon area in Portugal, covering central hospitals, district hospitals, and health centres. Each doctor filled in a questionnaire, which included the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE).
Participants were divided in two subgroups: 51% residents (n = 53) and 49% specialists (n = 51). A difference (p = .048) in JSE scores between residents (mean 116.4, SD 12.8) and specialists (mean 120.78, SD 12.84) has been identified. Furthermore, in all three MBI subscales (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment), the group of residents showed significantly higher mean scores. In general, empathy scores showed an inverse relationship between depersonalization (r = -0.390, p < .0001) and lack of personal accomplishment (r = -0.447, p < .0001). Finally, we found that an increase in MBI level is associated with a decrease in empathy levels.
Our findings suggest that there is a significant difference in burnout subscales scores between residents and specialists and that these have a negative correlation with empathy level. These exploratory results draw attention to the importance of preventing burnout in hospital and health care centres professionals, in particular in residents, through the implementation of individual and organizational structured measures.
背景、目的和目标：医生群体中 burnout 的普遍存在及其对同理心的负面影响会影响治疗效果。本研究的目的是比较住院医师和专科医生之间的同理心和 burnout 水平，并研究同理心与 burnout 之间的相关性。
这是一项便利样本的探索性研究，样本包括在葡萄牙大里斯本地区医疗机构工作的 104 名医生，涵盖中心医院、地区医院和卫生中心。每位医生填写了一份问卷，其中包括 Maslach 倦怠量表（MBI）和 Jefferson 同理心量表（JSE）。
参与者被分为两个亚组：51%的住院医师（n=53）和 49%的专科医生（n=51）。住院医师（平均 116.4，SD 12.8）和专科医生（平均 120.78，SD 12.84）之间的 JSE 评分存在差异（p=0.048）。此外，在 MBI 的所有三个子量表（情绪耗竭、去人性化和缺乏个人成就感）中，住院医师组的平均得分都明显更高。一般来说，同理心评分与去人性化（r=-0.390，p<0.0001）和缺乏个人成就感（r=-0.447，p<0.0001）呈负相关。最后，我们发现 MBI 水平的增加与同理心水平的降低相关。
我们的研究结果表明，住院医师和专科医生之间在 burnout 子量表评分上存在显著差异，并且这些差异与同理心水平呈负相关。这些探索性结果提请人们注意，通过实施个体化和组织化的措施，预防医院和医疗保健中心专业人员，特别是住院医师的 burnout 现象非常重要。
