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Prevalence and factors associated with burnout among healthcare providers in Malaysia: a web-based cross-sectional study

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Abstract

Background

This study aimed to assess the determinants of burnout among healthcare providers in the primary care setting.

Methods

A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 1280 healthcare providers aged 18 years and older from 30 primary care clinics in Selangor, Malaysia. In this study, the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory was used to assess burnout. The results were analyzed using multiple logistic regression.

Results

The prevalence of personal burnout was 41.7%, followed by work-related burnout (32.2%) and client-related burnout (14.5%). The determinants for personal burnout in this study were younger age, being a doctor, higher COVID-19 exposure risk, do not know where to seek help, inability to handle stress, poorer sleep quality score, higher total COVID-19 fear score, higher total stress score, and lower total BRS score. The determinants of work-related burnout were younger age, being a doctor, longer years of working, higher COVID-19 exposure risk, do not know where to seek help, lower altruistic score, poorer sleep quality score, higher total stress score, and lower total brief resilience score (BRS) score. The determinants of client-related burnout were doctor, single/divorced, more than one attachment site, and higher satisfaction toward the infection control, inability to handle stress, higher total depression score, and lower total BRS score.

Conclusion

Every fourth out of ten suffered from personal burnout, one-third from work-related burnout, and one-seventh from client-related burnout among healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare systems must take care of healthcare workers’ physical and emotional depletion, reducing the risk of burnout.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Director General of Health Malaysia for his permission to publish this article. The author would like to acknowledge the Selangor JKNS Health Office and the Director of Health for their support of our study. The author would like to thank all Family Medicine Specialist for providing support during the data collection. We would like to extend our appreciation to all respondents in this study.

Funding

This research received funding from the Family Medicine Specialist Association (FMSA (5) 02/20–22). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, the decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Selangor, Serdang, Malaysia

    Siew-Mooi Ching, Ai Theng Cheong & Irmi Ismail Zarina

  2. Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Anne Yee

  3. School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Minden, Malaysia

    Ramayah Thurasamy

  4. Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Selangor, Serdang, Malaysia

    Poh Ying Lim

  5. Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, Selangor, Serdang, Malaysia

    Kai Wei Lee

  6. Klinik Kesihatan Simpang Kuala, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Alor Setar Kedah, Malaysia

    Sri Wahyu Taher

  7. Department of Medical Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, University College of MAIWP International, Taman Batu Muda, 68100, Kuala Lumpur, Batu Caves, Malaysia

    Vasudevan Ramachandran

  8. Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai, India

    Vasudevan Ramachandran

Authors
  1. Siew-Mooi Ching
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  2. Ai Theng Cheong
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Contributions

CSM, ATC, PYL, IIZ, KWL, and SWT involved in the design of the study design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data. CSM, VR, and KWL involved in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content. All authors involved in review and editing and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Siew-Mooi Ching.

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Ethical approval

Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the National Malaysia Research Registry (NMRR ID-21–02084-IUO (IIR)) prior to data collection. Written informed consent was obtained from the all the respondents.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Ching, SM., Cheong, A.T., Yee, A. et al. Prevalence and factors associated with burnout among healthcare providers in Malaysia: a web-based cross-sectional study. Ir J Med Sci 193, 851–863 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-023-03483-7

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