ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Minerva Anestesiologica 2023 March;89(3):188-96

DOI: 10.23736/S0375-9393.22.16737-4

Copyright © 2022 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Burnout in Italian anesthesiologists and intensivists during the COVID-19 pandemic: a national survey

Maria G. FRIGO ^{1, 2}, Flavia PETRINI ¹, Luigi TRITAPEPE ^{1, 3}, Marco ROSSI ^{1, 4}, Daniela DE BERARDINIS ⁵, Alessia RENZI ⁶, Rachele MARIANI ⁶, Michela DI TRANI ⁶ ✉

¹ Società Italiana di Anestesia, Analgesia, Rianimazione e Terapia Intensiva - SIAARTI, Rome, Italy; ² Unit of Obstetric Anesthesia and Clinical Risk, Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Rome, Italy; ³ Unit of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, San Camillo-Forlanini Hospital, Rome, Italy; ⁴ Department of Emergency, Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, IRCCS A. Gemelli University Polyclinic Foundation, Sacred Heart Catholic University, Rome, Italy; ⁵ Unit of Clinical Psychology, Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Rome, Italy; ⁶ Department of Dynamic, Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic added additional burden upon healthcare systems and anesthesiology and intensive care physicians (AI) who possessed crucial expertise for dealing with the pandemic. Aim of the study was to uncover specific burnout patterns among Italian AI, exploring the hypothesis that burnout has a multicluster structure. Differences in social and professional characteristics between burnout patterns were explored.
METHODS: One thousand and nine AI (658 women) members of the Società Italiana di Anestesia Analgesia Rianimazione e Terapia Intensiva (SIAARTI) working during COVID-19 pandemic participated. Sociodemographic, working information and burnout levels evaluated through Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) were collected.
RESULTS: According to the MBI cutoff, 39.7% and 25.8% of participants scored high in emotional exhaustion and depersonalization respectively, and 44.2% scored low in personal accomplishment. Cluster analysis highlighted four burnout profiles: resilience, detachment, burnout, and emotional reserve. The results showed that AI in the Resilience and Emotional Reserve groups were significantly older and more experienced than those in the Detachment and Burnout groups. Additionally, more of the individuals in the Resilience group were working in intensive care units and departments dedicated to COVID-19 patients. The Detachment group was comprised of more AI working in operating units, while the Burnout group contained a higher number of AI working in COVID-19 departments.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight different burnout patterns in Italian AI: older age, more professional experience, and work in intensive care units and departments dedicated to COVID-19 seemed to be protective factors during the pandemic. This appears a first step to promote focused interventions.

KEY WORDS: Burnout, psychological; COVID-19; Health