Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Community Medicine, International Medical University (IMU), No. 126, Jalan Jalil Perkasa 19, Bukit Jalil, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 International Medical School, Management and Science University (MSU), University Drive, Off Persiaran Olahraga, Section 13, Shah Alam, 40100 Selangor, Malaysia
  • 3 Medical Department, Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR), Jalan Langat, Klang, 41200 Selangor, Malaysia
  • 4 Perdana University Graduate School of Medicine, Perdana University, Maeps Building, Mardi Complex, Serdang, 43400 Selangor, Malaysia
ScientificWorldJournal, 2013;2013:137620.
PMID: 24367238 DOI: 10.1155/2013/137620

Abstract

This study was the first to explore factors associated with emotional burnout (EB) among medical residents in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a universal sample of 205 medical residents in a Malaysian general hospital. The self-administered questionnaire used consisted of questions on sociodemographics and work characteristics, sources of job stress, professional fulfillment, engagement, and EB. EB was measured using the emotional exhaustion subscale, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Mean (±SD) age of the respondents was 26.5 (±1.6). The most common source of job stress was "fear of making mistakes." Most of the participants were dissatisfied with the increase of residentship period from one year to two years. A high level of EB was reported by 36.6% of the respondents. In multivariate analysis, the most important correlates of EB were sources of job stress, professional fulfillment, and engagement. A high prevalence of EB was found among medical residents. Sociodemographic characteristics, performance pressure, and satisfaction with policies were significantly associated with EB. Although this study was limited by its cross-sectional design, its findings posit a sufficient foundation to relevant authorities to construct, amend, and amalgamate existing and future policies. Nothing will sustain you more potently than the power to recognize in your humdrum routine, as perhaps it may be thought, the true poetry of life-the poetry of the common place, of the common man, of the plain, toil-worn woman, with their loves and their joys, their sorrows and their grief.SirWilliam Osler, Aphorisms from the Student Life (Aequanimitas, 1952).

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.