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The Burnout in Health Professionals in Guayaquil
El burnout en profesionales de la salud de la ciudad de
Guayaquil
Marcelo Javier Bastidas Jiménez
*
Iskra Casandra Calle Carrión
*
ABSTRACT
This article addresses the phenomenon of burnout in
the healthcare sector in the city of Guayaquil,
Ecuador, exploring the complex interactions
between work challenges and the socio-economic
environment. From the local context to specific
manifestations and underlying causes, this analysis
seeks to provide an understanding of a critical
problem affecting healthcare professionals,
demanding innovative strategies for prevention and
mitigation. The methodology employed is
quantitative in nature, utilizing an instrument based
primarily on the Maslach Burnout Inventory,
comprising three dimensions: emotional exhaustion,
depersonalization, and personal accomplishment.
Three groups were defined for analysis: no burnout,
mild/moderate burnout, and severe burnout. 33.65%
of healthcare professionals do not exhibit high values
in burnout dimensions, while 13.94% exhibit severe
burnout. Statistically significant relationships are
found between the presence of the syndrome and
most demographic variables. It is concluded that
there is an impact on the quality of life of healthcare
professionals, which affects patient care in both
public and private institutions. Implementation of
intervention programs is recommended to mitigate
the effects of burnout on the physical and mental
well-being of healthcare professionals.
Keywords: Burnout, productivity, quality of life,
teaching
* Dr. Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, mbastidas@ups.edu.ec,
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6448-1286
* Msc. Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, icalle@ups.edu.ec ,
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5766-7170
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RESUMEN
El presente artículo aborda el fenómeno del burnout
en el sector de la salud de la ciudad de Guayaquil,
Ecuador, explorando las complejas interacciones
entre los desafíos laborales y el entorno
socioeconómico. Desde el contexto local hasta las
manifestaciones específicas y las causas subyacentes,
este análisis busca proporcionar una comprensión de
un problema crítico que afecta a los profesionales de
la salud y que demanda estrategias innovadoras para
su prevención y mitigación. La metodología utilizada
es de carácter cuantitativo, empleando un
instrumento, cuya base principal es el inventario de
burnout de “Maslach”, que consta de tres
dimensiones: cansancio emocional,
despersonalización y realización personal. Para el
análisis se definieron tres grupos: sin burnout,
burnout leve/moderado y burnout grave. El 33.65%
de los profesionales de la salud no presentan valores
altos en las dimensiones del burnout, el 13.94%
presentan un burnout grave. Se encuentran
relaciones estadísticamente significativas entre la
presencia del síndrome y la mayoría de las variables
demográficas. Se concluye que existe una afectación
en la calidad de vida de los profesionales de la salud,
lo cual repercute en la atención a los pacientes de
instituciones tanto públicas como privadas. Se
recomienda la implementación de programas de
intervención para mitigar los efectos del burnout en
el bienestar físico y mental de los profesionales de la
salud.
Palabras clave: Burnout, profesional, salud,
Maslach, factores
INTRODUCTION
Stress is so much a part of our daily lives that it can be considered a plague on our
civilization, as it affects personal health and well-being, as well as work and collective
satisfaction. In the context of occupational health, a new process has emerged: burnout
syndrome. It is a chronic adaptive disorder associated with inadequate coping with the
psychological demands of work that alters the patient's quality of life and negatively
affects the quality of health care delivery. (Polacov, et al., 2021)
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"Burnout is a response to persistent job stress, shaped by negative attitudes and feelings
toward the people you work with, and toward your own professional role," according
to American psychologist Christina Maslach and her colleague Susan Jackson, who have
been researching this topic since the mid-1970s. The "Maslach Burnout Inventory" was
developed by Dr. Christine Maslach and Susan Jackson and uses a seven-level frequency
scale to assess the three symptoms of professional burnout: depersonalization,
emotional exhaustion and low personal fulfillment at work. (Olivares Faúndez, 2017)
The healthcare field has been highlighted as an environment particularly prone to the
presence of physical and emotional burnout symptoms due to the nature of the activity
and the frequent imbalance between external demands, social pressure, patient
expectations, self-demand and the actual capacity of medicine and the resources available
to efficiently meet these objectives (Koppmann, Cantillano, & Alessandri, 2021).
The health emergency that began in 2019 due to Sars-CoV-2 infection has saturated
health systems, worsening the physical and mental health of health workers, generating
an increased workload, concern about exposure to risks and hazards, lack of support in
institutions, perception of organizational injustice and lack of protective equipment. The
current situation has highlighted the need for health professionals to optimize resources,
take self-care measures and learn to adapt to changes. (Torres, et al., 2021).
Professional burnout, combined with other factors such as long working hours, night
shifts, stress and anxiety, has a negative impact on physical and mental well-being and
decreases the quality of care and increases the likelihood of medical errors. Depressed
residents present six times more errors than non-depressed residents, he assures
(Toala, 2019).
According to several studies conducted in the last five years in Latin America and Peru,
Burnout syndrome is increasing among health professionals, as these workers
experience different levels, even from their undergraduate training. Therefore, the risk
of contracting this syndrome or worsening this condition increases during the economic
exercise.(Yslado, Norabuena, Sanchez, & Norabuena, 2020).
In medicine, especially in situations of severity of illness, physicians may be in contact
with patients and sometimes become involved with their patients' pain or indifferent to
them, so they must behave appropriately. Hence the ability to know how to manage
"emotionally" in both cases. This competence will improve interaction with patients and
peers.
Health personnel is one of the most vulnerable groups for Burnout. Some stressors that
create a high environment of toxicity have been described and can be identified in the
life of medical students and later in their career: excessive competitiveness, even in
entrance exams, leaving home to study or work, increased autonomy, frustration at the
beginning of the career due to not being performed in contact with the patient, related
to the workload, work hours and responsibility for the patient's health, frustration with
the health system and poor working conditions, excessive tasks on the medical staff and
little economic compensation (Alcaraz, et al., 2023).
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It is said that incorporating emotional intelligence in academic training is to acquire a key
social competence that allows physicians to relate to themselves and to others. In daily
praxis, an intelligent performance consists of knowing how to identify well the origin and
nature of emotions in ourselves in order to be able to control them in a flexible way,
establishing appropriate relationships between thoughts, emotions, behavior and
behavior (Hernandez & Dickinson, 2014).
Some of the strategies to decrease Burnout syndrome applied in health institutions in
Colombia are the following:
• Actively listen to the person without offering advice or judging their actions.
• Provide technical support through the validation of an expert colleague to
confirm that the health activities are being carried out adequately.
• Encourage the worker's need and curiosity to be creative and engage with
colleagues who are experts in their field.
• Emotional support involves offering unconditional support, something that all
people need; if it is not possible to obtain in the work environment, it should be
found in the personal sphere.
• Offer challenging emotional support that prompts reflection on whether all
possible solutions have been explored and promotes a reconsideration of
responsibilities for work outcomes, avoiding blaming colleagues or superiors for
professional failures.
• Engage in the social reality of the person, either confirming or questioning their
beliefs about themselves, such as their self-concept, self-efficacy and self-
esteem.(Durán, García, Parra, García, & Hernández, 2018).
It is feasible to reduce Burnout through individual (rational approach to problems), social
(social support, multidisciplinary work) and labor or organizational measures (reduction
of quotas, reduction of the bureaucratic burden, promotion of autonomy and
participation in decision-making, optimization of communication between care levels)
(García, et al., 2022).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The approach of this research is quantitative, with a descriptive methodology. A
structured survey was used for data collection. The first part of the questionnaire is a
battery of 22 questions with a time frequency scale, developed from Maslach's burnout
inventory, which consists of three dimensions, which can be visualized in Table 1.
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Table 1. Dimensions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, associated with the questions of the
instrument
Dimension
Questions involved
Emotional fatigue
1−2−3−6−8−13−14−16−20
Depersonalization
5−10−11−15−22
Personal relationship
4−7−9−12−17−18−19−21
Source: (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996)
Each question of the Maslach Burnout Inventory is evaluated according to a frequency scale:
0 = Never.
1 = A few times a year.
2 = Once a month or less.
3 = A few times a month.
4 = Once a week.
5 = A few times a week.
6 = Every day.
The second part of the questionnaire included demographic variables: sex, age group, marital
status, religion, number of children, level of education, work seniority and family income. In
addition, health and behavioral variables were included: hours of sleep, self-rated mental health,
self-rated physical health, tobacco consumption and physical activity.
An electronic survey using the QuestionPro platform was used to collect the information. The
instrument was a structured questionnaire.
The population considered for this study consisted of health personnel in the city of Guayaquil,
including physicians, psychologists, dentists, obstetricians, nurses and nursing assistants.
According to INEC, this population represents a rate of 53.94 per 10,000 inhabitants.
Considering that the population of the city of Guayaquil, after the last population and housing
census was 2746403 inhabitants, the population of health personnel would be approximately
14814 individuals.
In order to obtain the sample size, a pilot sample of 50 people was considered in which an
estimate of the adjusted population proportion of 0.85 was obtained. The sample was calculated
considering a confidence level of 95% and a maximum admissible error of 5%.
n=(Z_(α/2)^2 PQN)/(e^2 (N-1)+Z_(α/2)^2 PQ)
n=((1.96)^2 (0.85)(0.15)(14814))/(
〖
(0.05)
〗
^2 (14814-1)+(1.96)^2 (0.85)(0.15))
n
≅
194
RESULTS
Table 2 shows the frequencies of the demographic variables. Of the respondents,
71.15% were female. Regarding the age group, 28.85% were under 25 years of age,
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46.15% were between 25 and 34 years of age, 9.62% were between 35 and 44 years of
age and the rest were 45 years of age and older. Regarding marital status, 64.90% were
married, 23.56% were single and the rest were divorced or unmarried. Regarding the
number of children, 69.23% said they had no children, 28.84% said they had between
one and three children and the other 1.92% said they had three or more children. The
predominant religion was Catholic with 66.83%, followed by evangelical with 8.65%;
there were 3.37% atheists and 15.38% with no religion. Regarding educational level,
19.23% had secondary education, 58.66% had higher education and 22.11% had a
master's degree or doctorate.
Table 2. Demographic variables
Variable Categoría Porcentaje
Masculino 28,85%
Femenino 71,15%
< 25 28,85%
25 - 34 46,15%
35 - 44 9,62%
45 - 54 13,94%
55 + 1,44%
Solter@ 23,56%
Casad@ 64,90%
Divorciad@ 2,88%
Viud@ 0,00%
Unid@ 8,65%
Católica 66,83%
Evangélica 8,65%
Otra religión 5,77%
Sin religión 15,38%
Ateo 3,37%
Educación secundaria 19,23%
Tecnología 1,44%
Formación técnica superior
16,35%
Licenciatura/Ingeniería 40,87%
Maestría 19,23%
Doctorado 2,88%
Ninguno 69,23%
1 8,17%
2 11,54%
3 9,13%
Más de 3 1,92%
$500 o menos 27,40%
$501 a $1000 44,71%
$1001 a $1500 8,65%
$1501 a $2000 4,81%
$2001 a $3000 4,81%
Más de $3000 9,62%
Ingreso familiar
Sexo
Grupo etario
Estado civil
Nivel educativo
Número de
hijos
Religión
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Table 3 shows the percentages of the health and behavioral variables. Regarding mental
health, 18.27% rated it negatively, 59% rated it positively, the rest rated it neutrally;
regarding physical health, 24.52% rated it negatively, 48.55% rated it positively, and
26.92% rated it neutrally. A total of 81.25% indicated that they do not smoke. Finally,
with regard to sports activity, 37.50% stated that they had none, 37.98% indicated
between 30 and 69 minutes per week and the rest were mainly distributed between 70
and 300 minutes per week.
Table 3. Health variables and composition
Table 4 shows the percentages of the work variables that were also included in the
present investigation. In the case of the type of institution, 53.97% of the respondents
were from public institutions and the rest from private institutions. As for the work
climate rating, 65.22% rated the work climate of their company with a score of 7 or
higher.
Variable Categoría Porcentaje
4 o menos 3,37%
Entre 5 y 6 60,10%
Entre 7 y 9 36,54%
Más de 9 0,00%
Muy mala 5,77%
Mala 12,50%
NI buena, ni mala 31,73%
Buena 35,10%
Muy buena 14,90%
Muy mala 4,33%
Mala 20,19%
NI buena, ni mala 26,92%
Buena 39,42%
Muy buena 9,13%
Si 18,75%
No 81,25%
Ninguna 37,50%
Entre 30 y 69 37,98%
Entre 70 y 149 13,46%
Entre 150 y 300 9,62%
Más de 300 1,44%
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Table 4. Labor Variables
The results of the application of the battery of questions of the Maslach burnout
inventory are shown in Table 5.
Table 5. Responses to the Maslach Burnout Inventory questions
Variable Categoría Porcentaje
Pública 53,97%
Privada 46,03%
1 3,37%
2 5,77%
3 3,37%
4 0,00%
5 10,10%
6 8,65%
7 13,46%
8 35,10%
9 13,46%
10 3,20%
Típo institución
Clima laboral
Cat. Id.
Statement Nunca
Pocas veces
al año
Una vez al
mes o
menos
Unas pocas
veces al
mes
Una vez a la
semana
Unas pocas
veces a la
semana
Todos los
días
1
Me siento emocionalmente agotado/a por mi trabajo. 12,02% 8,65% 13,46% 17,31% 19,71% 20,67% 8,17%
2
Me siento cansado al fi nal de la jornada de trabajo. 4,33% 12,02% 5,77% 23,56% 8,65% 29,33% 16,35%
3
Cuando me levanto por la mañana y me enfrento a otra
jornada de trabajo me siento fatigado.
14,42% 19,71% 12,02% 18,27% 11,54% 9,13% 14,90%
6
Siento que trabajar todo el día con personas supone un gran
esfuerzo y me cansa.
24,52% 16,35% 9,62% 10,58% 11,54% 13,46% 13,94%
8
Siento que mi trabajo me está desgas tando/Me siento
quemado por mi trabajo.
19,23% 15,38% 10,58% 16,83% 4,33% 19,71% 13,94%
13
Me siento frustrado/a en mi trabaj o. 28,37% 14,42% 14,42% 12,02% 13,94% 11,06% 5,77%
14
Siento que estoy demasi ado tiempo en mi trabajo. 12,98% 17,79% 11,54% 10,10% 13,46% 13,46% 20,67%
16
Trabajar directa mente con l a gente me produce estrés . 23,08% 19,23% 12,50% 10,10% 7,21% 12,98% 14,90%
20
Me siento aca bado en mi trabajo, al límite de mis
posibilidades.
36,54% 9,13% 13,46% 18,27% 13,46% 1,44% 7,69%
5
Creo que estoy tratando a al gunas personas como si fueran
objetos impersonales.
70,67% 10,10% 10,10% 1,44% 4,33% 1,44% 1,92%
10
Me he vuelto más i nsens ibl e con l a gente. 46,15% 18,75% 3,37% 12,50% 7,21% 5,77% 6,25%
11
Pienso que este trabajo me está endureciendo
emoci onal mente.
27,88% 19,23% 1,92% 9,13% 10,58% 11,54% 19,71%
15
No me pr eocupa rea lmente l o que l es oc urra a a lgunas de l as
personas a l as que debo atender profesionalmente.
50,48% 17,79% 4,81% 4,33% 12,02% 4,33% 6,25%
22
Creo que las personas a las que atiendo me culpan de
algunos de sus problemas.
44,23% 19,23% 5,77% 10,10% 1,44% 5,77% 13,46%
4
Tengo facilidad para comprender como se sienten las
personas a las que tengo que atender
4,33% 4,33% 7,69% 1,44% 2,88% 12,98% 66,35%
7
Creo que trato con mucha eficaci a los problemas de las
personas que atiendo
0,00% 2,88% 2,88% 2,88% 6,25% 15,87% 69,23%
9
Creo que con mi trabajo estoy influyendo positivamente en la
vida de otras personas.
1,44% 5,77% 6,25% 8,17% 4,33% 9,62% 64,42%
12
Me siento con mucha energía en mi traba jo. 3,37% 6,25% 5,77% 9,13% 9,62% 25,48% 40,38%
17
Siento que puedo crear con facil idad un cli ma agradabl e en
mi tra ba jo
1,44% 10,58% 1,44% 10,10% 2,88% 16,83% 56,73%
18
Me siento motivado después de trabaja r en contacto con l as
personas que atiendo.
5,77% 10,58% 4,33% 13,94% 3,37% 29,33% 32,69%
19
Creo que consigo muchas cosas valiosas en este trabajo. 2,88% 12,50% 4,33% 5,77% 13,46% 21,15% 39,90%
21
En mi trabajo tra to l os probl emas emoci onal es con mucha
calma.
0,00% 5,77% 6,25% 10,58% 6,25% 19,23% 51,92%
Cansancio emocional
Despersonalización
Realización personal
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Considering what is indicated in Table 1, we proceeded to generate the three main
categories into which the MBI is divided and to make the corresponding descriptive
statistics. Each dimension is evaluated according to the ranges shown in Table 6.
Table 6. Reference for the interpretation of the results obtained in each of the dimensions of
the Maslach burnout inventory.
Source: (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996).
Figure 1 shows the different levels in the three dimensions of burnout. The emotional
exhaustion dimension presents a low level in 32.70% of the cases, a medium level in
22.60% of the cases and 44.70% of the cases have a high level. In the depersonalization
dimension, 38.00% have a low level, 25.00% have a medium level and 37% have a high
level. Finally, in the personal fulfillment dimension, 32.70% have a low indicator, 13.50%
have a medium indicator and 53.80% have a high indicator.
Figure 1. Levels of the Burnout dimensions.
As mentioned, each burnout dimension has three levels (low, medium and high), but
there is no certainty among the authors to consider the existence of burnout syndrome
according to the levels in each dimension. What is clear is that a high level in one or
more dimensions is evidence of the presence of the syndrome in the person.
Dimensión
Puntuación
ba ja
Puntuación
media
Puntuación
alta
Cansancio emocional ≤ 18 19 - 26 ≥ 27
Despersonalización ≤ 5 6 -9 ≥ 10
Relación personal ≥ 40 34 - 39 ≤ 34
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Figure 2 shows the frequency of obtaining high scores in 1 or more of the burnout
dimensions. Of the respondents, 33.65% do not have high scores in any of the
dimensions (no burnout), 32.21% have high scores in one of the dimensions (mild
burnout), 20.19% have high scores in two dimensions (moderate burnout) and 13.94%
have high scores in all three dimensions (severe burnout).
Figure 2. Number of dimensions with high scores
Table 7 shows the percentages of burnout according to the different demographic
variables.
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Table 7. Percentage of burnout according to demographic variables. A level of statistical
significance is considered if p < 0.05.
.
A higher percentage of severe burnout is evidenced in men. The same occurs in the
group of people between 45 and 54 years of age. Married people have a higher level of
severe burnout. With regard to religion, a higher level of severe burnout is found among
evangelicals. Severe burnout is higher in those with three children; there is a higher
incidence of severe burnout in people with a master's degree or doctorate. Finally, a
greater presence of severe burnout is evidenced in those with family incomes of $2001
to $3000.
A statistically significant association was found between burnout and all demographic
variables (sex, age group, marital status, religion, educational level, number of children
and family income). Table 8 shows the percentages of burnout according to health,
behavioral and occupational variables.
Variable Categoría Sin Burnout Burnout leve/moderado Burnout grave Valor p
Masculi no 16,70% 73,30% 10,00%
Femenino 40,50% 43,90% 15,50%
< 25 26,70% 58,30% 15,00%
25 - 34 22,90% 63,50% 13,50%
35 - 44 65,00% 35,00% -
45 - 54 65,50% 10,30% 24,10%
55 + - 100,00% -
Casad@ 46,90% 26,50% 26,50%
Solter@ 23,70% 64,40% 11,90%
Otros 62,50% 37,50% -
Católica 35,30% 48,20% 16,50%
Evangélica 16,70% 50,00% 33,30%
Otras 35,29% 64,71% -
Educación secundaria 45,00% 47,50% 7,50%
Educación superior 31,15% 55,74% 13,11%
Maestría/Doctorado 30,43% 47,83% 21,74%
Ninguno 26,40% 58,30% 15,30%
1 64,70% 35,30% -
2 50,00% 50,00% -
3 o más 39,13% 30,43% 30,43%
$500 o menos 15,80% 56,10% 28,10%
$501 a $1000 44,10% 49,50% 6,50%
$1001 a $1500 33,30% 66,70% -
$1501 a $2000 70,00% 30,00% -
$2001 a $3000 - 60,00% 40,00%
Más de $3000 35,00% 50,00% 15,00%
Nivel educativo
0,000
0,000
0,005
Ingreso familiar
0,000
Número de hijos
0,000
0,000
0,000
Sexo
Grupo etario
Estado civil
Religión
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Table 8. Percentage of burnout according to health, behavioral and occupational variables. A
level of statistical significance is considered if p < 0.05.
A higher percentage of severe burnout is evidenced in those with between 5 and 6 hours
of sleep. Likewise, a higher level of burnout was found in smokers and in those with no
sporting activity. Similarly, severe levels of burnout are found in people with a poor or
very poor self-rating in both physical and mental health. Finally, a higher level of burnout
is shown in those belonging to private institutions.
A statistically significant association was found between burnout and the variables: sports
activity (p=0.001), smoking (p=0.003), self-rated mental health (0.000) and self-rated
physical health (0.000).
Some previous studies highlight a particular prevalence among certain types of
professionals, specifically those who have direct contact with clients or users (Arayago,
González, Limongi, & Guevara, 2016), such as social workers, nurses, doctors, teachers,
public servants, among others (Schaufeli & Enzmann, 2020).
The present study conducted among health care workers of public and private
institutions (doctors, dentists, psychologists, nurses and nursing assistants) in the city of
Guayaquil. The study revealed the absence of burnout in 33.65% of the health
professionals, as well as 52.40% of individuals with mild to moderate levels of burnout
Variable Categorías Sin Burnout Burnout leve/moderado Burnout grave Valor p
4 o menos 42,90% 57,10% 0,00%
Entre 5 y 6 31,20% 53,60% 15,20%
Entre 7 y 9 36,8 50,00% 13,20%
Muy mala - 75,00% 25,00%
Mala 23,10% 76,90% -
NI buena, ni mala 21,20% 56,10% 22,70%
Buena 38,40% 46,60% 15,10%
Muy buena 71,00% 29,00% -
Muy mala - 66,70% 33,30%
Mala 7,10% 61,90% 31,00%
NI buena, ni mala 30,40% 58,90% 10,70%
Buena 41,50% 50,00% 8,50%
Muy buena 84,20% 15,80% -
Si 10,30% 71,80% 17,90%
No 39,10% 47,90% 13,00%
Ninguna 16,70% 62,80% 20,50%
Entre 30 y 69 43,00% 44,30% 12,70%
Entre 70 y 149 42,90% 57,10% -
Entre 150 y 300 55,00% 30,00% 15,00%
Más de 300 - 100,00% -
Pública 39,70% 49,20% 11,10%
Privada 31,00% 53,80% 15,20%
Horas de sueño
por día (horas)
0,749
Fuma
Actividad
deportiva
(minutos por
semana)
Típo institución
0,000
0,000
0,003
0,433
0,001
Autocalificación
salud mental
Autocalificación
salud física
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(high scores in one or two dimensions evaluated). A total of 66.35% of the respondents
presented high values in at least one of the three dimensions of burnout and 13.94% of
the health professionals were found to have a severe level of burnout (high scores in all
three dimensions).
The indicated results do not differ from those obtained by (Hidalgo, Genaro, & Moro,
2023), who report that 71.2% of the participants present high scores in at least one of
the MBI subscales. (Chiriboga & Chiriboga, 2020) evidenced a joint percentage of
moderate and severe burnout of 37.5%; similarly (Tacle & Gárate, 2023). The prevalence
shown by health personnel in Guayaquil is very similar to that found in nurses by (Woo,
Ho, Tang, & Tam, 2020), who determine a combined prevalence of burnout symptoms
worldwide of 11.23%; finally (Medina, Medina, Gauna, Molfino, & Merino, 2017) evidence
a 4% prevalence in health personnel in Ecuador.
Other studies, however, report lower levels in terms of the prevalence of burnout
syndrome, For example (Poveda, et al., 2023) report that in the León Becerra Hospital
in Guayaquil there is no evidence of the presence of burnout syndrome; (Ambousi,
Chalco, & Endara, 2023) found a prevalence of 3.6% in pediatric and neonatology staff of
the General Hospital San Francisco de Quito; (Ramírez, 2017) also reports a prevalence
4.2% among medical and nursing staff.
In the dimensions of burnout, the highest prevalence was obtained in personal
accomplishment with high levels in 53.80% of cases, versus 44.70% in emotional
exhaustion and 37% in depersonalization. These results show similarity to the findings
of (Lauracio & Lauracio, 2020), in which 78.6% of health personnel have low personal
fulfillment, likewise (Cerón, 2020) who found the highest prevalence in personal
fulfillment in nurses in public and private hospitals in Guayaquil. Also, (Vafaee-Najar,
Delshad, Pourhaji, Tabesh, & Pourhaji, 2023)
A statistically significant association was evidenced between burnout and all demographic
variables (sex, age group, marital status, religion, educational level, number of children
and family income). These results can be compared with (Castillo, Rosas, Cajías, &
Escobar, 2019) who found a level of association with the variable sex; (Lugo, 2019) found
a relationship with the variable age group; (Vinueza, et al., Burnout syndrome among
Ecuadorian medical doctors and nurses during COVID-19 pandemic, 2020) evidenced a
statistically significant relationship between burnout levels and the variables sex and age.
On the contrary, research was found in which there was no significant relationship
between demographic variables and burnout syndrome, for example (Orosco &
Romero, 2023), similarly (Cañadas, et al., 2018) do not find significant relationships with
demographic variables, but rather with personality factors.
Statistically significant relationships have been determined between burnout and the
variables: sports activity, smoking, self-rated mental health and self-rated physical health.
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In this regard (Lucero, Noroña, & Vega, 2022) found a strong correlation between the
presence of burnout and depression; (Ciprián, Adame, & Juárez, 2023) found a
relationship between the syndrome and aspects of quality of life, such as hours of sleep.
CONCLUSIONS
Burnout among health professionals in Guayaquil is a growing concern that requires
immediate attention and preventive measures by health institutions and relevant
authorities.
It is important to find the relationship between burnout and different demographic and
behavioral variables, because contractual processes can be directed towards people
whose characteristics make them less prone to the presence of burnout syndrome.
It is crucial to implement intervention programs and self-care strategies aimed specifically
at health professionals in Guayaquil to mitigate the effects of burnout and promote their
physical and emotional well-being.
Addressing burnout not only benefits individual health professionals, but also has a
positive impact on the quality of health care provided to the community in Guayaquil,
promoting a healthier and more satisfying work environment for all involved.
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