Risk of burnout and stress in physicians working in a COVID team: A longitudinal survey
Tommaso Dionisi, Luisa Sestito, Claudia Tarli, Mariangela Antonelli, Alberto Tosoni, Stefano D’Addio, Antonio Mirijello, Gabriele Vassallo, Lorenzo Leggio, Antonio Gasbarrini, Giovanni Addolorato, Gemelli Against COVID‐19 Group, Valeria Abbate, Nicola Acampora, Fabiana Agostini, Maria Elena Ainora, Elena Amato, Gloria Andriollo, B.E. Annicchiarico, Gabriele Antonucci, Alessandro Armuzzi, Christian Barillaro, Fabiana Barone, Rocco Bellantone, Daniela Belella, Andrea Bellieni, Andrea Benicchi, Francesca Benvenuto, Filippo Berloco, Roberto Bernabei, Antonio Bianchi, Luigi M. Biasucci, Stefano Bibbò, Federico Biscetti, Nicola Bonadia, Alberto Borghetti, Giulia Bosco, Silvia Laura Bosello, Vincenzo Bove, Giulia Bramato, Vincenzo Brandi, Dario Bruno, Maria Chiara Bungaro, Alessandro Buonomo, Maria Livia Burzo, Angelo Calabrese, Andrea Cambieri, Giulia Cammá, Marcello Candelli, Gennaro Capalbo, Lorenzo Capaldi, Esmeralda Capristo, Luigi Carbone, Silvia Cardone, Angelo Carfì, Annamaria Carnicelli, Claudia Carnuccio, Cristiano Caruso, Francesco Antonio Casciaro, Lucio Catalano, Roberto Cauda, Andrea Leonardo Cecchini, Lucia Cerrito, Michele Ciaburri, Rossella Cianci, Sara Cicchinelli, Arturo Ciccullo Francesca Ciciarello, Antonella Cingolani, Maria Camilla Cipriani, Gaetano Coppola, Andrea Corsello, Federico Costante, Marcello Covino, A. D'Alessandro, Maria E. D'Alfonso, Emanuela D’Angelo, Marco D'Angelo, F. D’Aversa, Alessandro D’Errico, Fernando Damiano, Tommaso de Cunzo, Giuseppe De Matteis, Martina De Siena, Francesco Vito, Valeria Del Gatto, Paola Del Giacomo, Fabio Del Zompo, Davide Antonio Della Polla, Elisabetta Del Sordo, Luca Di Gialleonardo, Simona Di Giambenedetto, Roberta Di Luca, Luca Di Maurizio, Alex Dusina, Alessandra Esperide, Domenico Faliero, Cinzia Falsiroli, Massimo Fantoni, Annalaura Fedele, Daniela Feliciani
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The COVID-19 pandemic represents a source of stress and potential burnout for many physicians. This single-site survey aimed at assessing perceived stress and risk to develop burnout syndrome among physicians operating in COVID wards. METHODS: This longitudinal survey evaluated stress and burnout in 51 physicians operating in the COVID team of Gemelli Hospital, Italy. Participants were asked to complete the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Perceived Stress Questionnaire on a short run (PSQs) (referring to the past 7 days) at baseline (T0) and then for four weeks (T1-T4). Perceived Stress Questionnaire on a long run (PSQl) (referring to the past 2 years) was completed only at T0. RESULTS: Compared with physicians board-certified in internal medicine, those board-certified in other disciplines showed higher scores for the Emotional Exhaustion (EE) score of the MBI scale (P < .001). Depersonalisation (DP) score showed a reduction over time (P = .002). Attending physicians scored lower than the resident physicians on the DP scale (P = .048) and higher than resident physicians on the Personal Accomplishment (PA) scale (P = .04). PSQl predicted higher scores on the EE scale (P = .003), DP scale (P = .003) and lower scores on the PA scale (P < .001). PSQs showed a reduction over time (P = .03). Attending physicians had a lower PSQs score compared with the resident physicians (P = .04). CONCLUSIONS: Medical specialty and clinical position could represent risk factors for the development of burnout in a COVID team. In these preliminary results, physicians board-certified in internal medicine showed lower risk of developing EE during the entire course of the study.