Burnout is a predictor of high ten-year risk of cardiovascular disease among health workers in Ghana.

INTRODUCTION

Burnout is said to affect a quarter of health workers globally and this rate is said to be higher in resource-constrained settings like those in sub-Saharan Africa. Burnout does not only affect employees' work output, but it is linked with physiological dysregulation and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Cardiovascular diseases are now at epidemic levels in almost all regions of the world, and this is particularly serious in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where infectious diseases are already taking a major toll on the less-resourced health care system. Unfortunately, the under-resourced healthcare system predisposes hospital staff in Ghana to job-related burnout. Burnout among health workers could increase the risk of CVDs due to the associated physiological imbalances but this remains largely undetermined in Ghana.

AIM

This study examined the association between burnout and the ten-year risk of CVDs among health workers in Ghana.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,264 hospital staff with at least 1 year work experience in Accra, Ghana. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to determine burnout. Each participant's anthropometric and hemodynamic indices were measured as well as their fasting blood samples taken to measure plasma levels of glucose and lipid profile. The ten-year risk of CVDs was determined using the Framingham risk scoring (FRS) tool. The relationship between burnout and the ten-year risk of CVDs was determined at the bivariate and multivariable levels. The data analysis was done at a 95% confidence level.

RESULTS

The rate of burnout among the participants was 20.57%, higher in non-clinicians than clinicians (26.74% vs. 15.64, p < 0.001). More than 13% (13.61%) had high risk of CVDs in the next decade, with non-clinicians having an increased high CVD-risk (13.73%). Burnout was significantly associated with the ten-year risk of CVDs (p < 0.001). Specifically, for a one unit increase in burnout, the odds of experiencing a high ten-year risk of CVDs increased by 2.07 times as compared to those without burnout (AOR = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.73-2.40).

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Burnout is high among health workers in Ghana, and it is associated with ten-year risk of CVDs. It is recommended that health workers adopt measures that reduce their experience of stress on the job through regular psychological counselling to improve their psychological and physiological health. In addition, managers of employees in hospitals, particularly those in resource-constrained and stressful settings like those in sub-Saharan Africa must put in place measures to reduce burnout such as burnout-focused psychological counselling and peer-peer support systems among others to reduce the risk of burnout and possibly CVDs. Also, health education on lifestyle modifications such as healthy dietary regimes and structured exercise patterns must be put in place by individual health workers, managers of hospitals and the Ministry of Health, Ghana to improve the overall health of employees and possibly reduce the incidence of burnout and CVDs among hospital staff.