Prevalência da síndrome de Burnout em profissionais de saúde de Unidades de Terapia Intensiva de Fortaleza-CE no início e final da pandemia da Covid-19

Abstract

Introduction: Health professionals who work in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) are exposed to a high load of stress due to excessive work demand, patient severity and criticality of the environment, being the area most affected by Burnout Syndrome (BS). BS is characterized by a feeling of exhaustion, leading to depersonalization and reduced professional fulfillment, which can affect both the individual's well-being and the quality of care offered to their patients. Therefore, it is important to enable measures that can minimize the prevalence of BS in ICUs, and identifying the presence of this disorder and its associated factors is the first step towards this reduction. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of Burnout syndrome in healthcare professionals in Intensive Care Units in Fortaleza/CE in the first year (2020) and last year (2023) of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with health professionals (Doctors, Physiotherapists, Nurses and Nursing Technicians) working in public Adult ICUs in Fortaleza-CE during 2 different periods. Between June and July 2020, burnout was assessed online, after access to the ICUs was granted, face-to-face interviews were carried out between January and August 2023, with burnout, anxiety, depression and resilience being assessed. Results: 265 professionals were included in the 2020 study and 194 professionals in the 2023 study. At the beginning of the pandemic, emotional exhaustion was present in almost half of health professionals (48.6%) and depersonalization in a third of professionals (29 .4%), and Burnout levels remained high at the end of the pandemic, with 54.1% of professionals showing emotional exhaustion and 37.6% depersonalization. At the end of the pandemic, the prevalence of anxiety was 27.3% and depression was 6.2%. In the 2020 study, depersonalization was lower in women (OR 0.33 CI95% 0.18-0.62, p=0.01) and higher among professionals under 33 years old (OR 2.03 CI95% 1.15 -3.56, p=0.01). Increased workload was associated with depersonalization and emotional exhaustion [(OR 2.37 95% CI 2.02-5.50, p=0.04) and (OR 1.89 95% CI 1.04-3 .58; p = 0.030, respectively)]. In the 2023 study, age under 35 years old [OR 3.32(1.12-4.82)] and working in more than 2 hospitals [OR 3.03 (1.40-6.75)] were factors of risk for Burnout, while resilience was a protective factor for depersonalization [OR 0.97 (0.96-0.99)], exhaustion [OR 0.97 (0.96-0.99)], and global burnout. Conclusion: Burnout Syndrome was present in around half of the healthcare professionals in this research, both at the beginning and at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. BS was more common in younger individuals

and those with an increased workload. Emotional exhaustion was related to anxiety and depression, while resilience was a protective factor for depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and global burnout.