Empathy and burnout in Slovenian family medicine doctors: The first presentation of jefferson scale of empathy results
Article Category: Original scientific article
Published Online: Jun 21, 2018
Page range: 155 - 165
Received: Dec 04, 2017
Accepted: May 17, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjph-2018-0020
Keywords
© 2018 National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Background
Study aimed to assess the burnout prevalence and level of empathic attitude in family medicine doctors (FMDs) and its associations with demographic factors, working conditions and physician health, using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy – Health Professional version (JSE-HP).
Methods
Slovenian FMDs (n=316, response rate 56%) completed an online socio-demographic questionnaire, with questions on working conditions, physician health, and the Slovenian versions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the JSE-HP. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used, applying linear regression to calculate associations between demographic variables, factors of empathy and burnout dimensions, P<0.05 was set as a limit of statistical significance.
Results
Of the 316 participants, aged 40±10.2 years, 57 (18%) were men. The FMDs achieved mean scores on the JSE-HP (JSEtot of 112.8±10.2 and on the MBI 27.8±11.6 for EE, 10.8±5.5 for D and 33.5±6.0 for PA. High burnout was reported in one dimension by 24.8% of participants, in two by 17.2%, and by 6% in all three dimensions. Multivariate analysis revealed a higher EE and D and lower PA in specialists as opposed to trainees. Higher EE was also identified in older physicians having longer work experience, working in a rural setting, dealing with more than 40 patients/day and having a chronic illness. The latter was also associated with higher JSEtot. JSEtot was negatively associated with D, while PA was positively associated with JSEtot and Perspective Taking.
Conclusion
The incidence of burnout warns both physicians and decision-makers against too heavy workload, especially in older professionals.