A cross-sectional survey of burnout in a sample of resident physicians in Sudan

by Yasir Ahmed Mohammed Elhadi, Abdelmuniem Ahmed, Elhadi B. Salih, Osman S. Abdelhamed, Mohamed Hayder Hamid Ahmed, Noha Ahmed El Dabbah

Resident physicians in Sudan face a variety of physical and psychological stressors. Nevertheless, the prevalence of burnout syndrome among this critical population remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence rate of burnout and its associated factors in a sample of resident physicians in Sudan.

A cross-sectional design was used to assess the burnout syndrome among resident physicians at the teaching hospitals of Wad-Medani in Gezira state, east-central Sudan. Three hundred resident physicians at the dermatology, general surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, ear, nose and throat (ENT), oncology, urology, and internal medicine departments, were approached and invited to participate in the study. The Arabic version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory was distributed to respondents from July to October 2021.

From the 300 resident physicians, 208 (69.3%) responded. The average age of the study population was 29.99 ± 3.01 years, with more than half were females (56.7%), single (59.6%), and with more than three years of residency experience (50.5%). In total, 86.1% met the criteria for burnout in at least one dimension and 13.9% in all three dimensions. On the dimension of emotional exhaustion (EE), 70.7% reported high levels of burnout. While, 44.2% reported high levels of depersonalization (DP), and 73.1% experienced a sense of decreased professional accomplishment (PA). There were significant differences in burnout, EE, and DP levels among different specialties, with the pediatrics-specialty trainees reported higher levels. Burnout syndrome was associated with the working hours per single duty; participants who reported working for more than 24 hours had experienced higher levels of burnout, EE, and DP.

Large-scale studies are required to assess the determinants of burnout syndrome among resident physicians in Sudan. In addition, Stakeholders should urgently implement effective remedies to protect the mental health of resident physicians.