Occupational Stress And Burnout Among Frontline Egyptian Anesthesiologists During Covid-19 Outbreak In Egypt

Background: The COVID-19 outbreak was induced by a novel coronavirus initially discovered in Wuhan, Hubei province of China, in December 2019. The frontline anesthesiologists working in intensive care units at quarantine hospitals are under tremendous pressure and at risk of contracting COVID-19 since the beginning of the quarantine. This overwhelming situation can make them prone to psychological stress and burnout.Materials and Methods: We did self - administered questionnaire-based observational cross-sectional study that sent by e-mail to Egyptian anesthesiologists.Objectives: The objectives were to measure levels of stress and burnout in frontline anesthesiologists working at ICU of the quarantine hospitals ICU during the current COVID-19 outbreak and to investigate the potential sociodemographic features, job characteristics, and working conditions associated with distress among anesthesiologists.Results: Of 150 participants, continuous working shift for 2 weeks, young age, and lack of support during work time were significantly associated with higher stress scores with increased values ranged from 2.5 points for lack of support to 3.7 for continuous work shift. As for burnout, continuous working shift for 2 weeks, young age, and having duties all shift time were significantly associated with higher burnout score with increased values ranged from 1.1 for high duties to 3.7 for continuous work shift.Conclusion: Stress and burnout among anesthesiologists were caused by the continuous work regime, overloaded work, and lack of support. Identifying the triggering factors during this study with targeted interventions and psychosocial support will help to change the environment of the work to minimize the sources of stress.