Correlates of Burnout Syndrome among Belgrade Medical Students – A Cross-Sectional Study / Korelati sindroma sagorijevanja među Beogradskim studentima medicine - studija prijeseka

Abstract Main objective: There are still gaps in the knowledge about the factors that influenceburnout among medical students. This study examines the relationship between thelength of medical studies, academic achievement, self-estimated health and burnout.Sample: We administered an anonymous questionnaire to 769 second-year and sixthyearmedical students (69.2 % females) to collect data on age, sex, length of study,average grade, and self-estimated mental and physical health.Methods: The students completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) on emotionalexhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and personal accomplishment (PA) subscales.Results: The sophomores experienced a higher level of emotional exhaustion,depersonalization and personal accomplishment compared to the students in thesixth year (MBI scores - EE /29.03±11.02 vs. 23.73±10.91/; DP /16.23±5.95 vs.13.93±5.82/ PA /32.26±7.18 vs. 30.46±7.91/ respectively, all p < 0.001). The poorerself-estimated mental and physical health, in comparison to the period before theirstudies, was positively related to the scores on EE (ρ =0.381 and 0.257, respectively)and DP subscales (ρ =0.296 and 0.209, respectively) and negatively to PA subscale(ρ =-0.211 and -0.121, respectively, all p <0.001). The higher the average grade, thelower depersonalization and the higher personal accomplishment were found amongthe students (ρ = -0.094 and 0.121, respectively; p < 0,05). Low self-estimated healthstatus and poorer academic achievement were the main explanatory factors of a highburnout level in a multiple regression analysis.Conclusion: The burnout syndrome is more pronounced at the beginning of medicalstudies compared to the final years. A high level of burnout is mainly influenced bylow self-estimated health status and worse academic achievement. Keywords: burnout; mental health; stress; students --- Sažetak Glavni cilj: jos uvijek postoje praznine u znanju o cimbenicima koji utjecu na burnout(sindrom izgaranja) među studentima medicine. Ova studija ispituje odnos izmeđuduljine medicinskih studija, akademskoga postignuca, samoprocjene zdravlja iizgaranja. Uzorak: Primijenili smo anonimni upitnik među 769 studenata drugegodine i seste godine (69,2 % žena) radi prikupljanja podataka o dobi, spolu, duljinistudija, prosjecnoj ocjeni i samoprocjeni o mentalnom i tjelesnom zdravlju. Studentisu ispunili Maslach Burnout Inventory upitnik (MBI) o emocionalnoj iscrpljenosti(EE), depersonalizaciji (DP) i osobnim postignucima (PA). Studenti druge godinedoživjeli su vecu emocionalnu iscrpljenost i depersonalizaciju i niže osobno postignuceu usporedbi sa studentima seste godine (MBI ocjene - EE /29,03 %, 11,02 nasuprot16,23 ± 5,95 /; DP / 32,26 ±7,18 nasuprot 23,73 ± 10,91 / PA / 13,93 ± 5,82 nasuprot30,46 ± 7,91 / svi p <0,001). Pogorsanje samoprocjene mentalnoga i tjelesnogazdravlja u odnosu na razdoblje prije istraživanja pozitivno se odnosilo na rezultatena EE (ρ = 0,381 i 0,257, i potkategorije DP (ρ = 0,296, odnosno 0,209, respektivno)i negativno na potkategoriju PA (ρ =-0.211, odnosno -0.121, svi p <0,001). Sto je visaprosjecna ocjena, to je bila niža depersonalizacija i visi osobni uspjeh među ispitanimstudentima (ρ = -0.094, odnosno 0,121; p <0,05). Zaljucak: Sindrom izgaranjaizraženiji je među studentima prve godine medicine u odnosu na studente zavrsnegodine studija. Bolje akademsko postignuce zastita je od izgaranja, a samoprocjenatjelesnoga i mentalnoga zdravlja visoko je u korelaciji sa simptomima izgaranja. Kljucne rijeci: mentalno zdravlje; sindrom izgaranja; stres; student