Jornal de Pediatria • ISSN 1678-4782 • Volume 87 • N° 6 • Nov/Dec • 2011

Original Article

Impact of a brief intervention on the burnout levels of pediatric residents

Impacto de uma intervenção breve nos níveis de burnout de residentes pediátricos

Andrea E. Martins, María C. Davenport, María de la Paz Del Valle, Sandra Di Lalla, Paula Domínguez, Laura Ormando, Adriana Ingratta, Hector Gambarini, Fernando Ferrero  •  http://dx.doi.org/10.2223/JPED.2127
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J Pediatr (Rio J). 2011;87(6):493-8: Burnout, professional, internship and residency, quality of life.

  

Objectives: To estimate burnout prevalence among pediatric residents and to evaluate the impact of a brief intervention aimed at controlling burnout.
Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 74 pediatric residents. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered to all subjects, and demographic information was gathered (age, gender, children, cohabitants, and residency year). The experimental group (n = 37) participated in self-care workshops over the course of 2 months, and the control group (n = 37) did not receive any intervention. After the intervention, the Maslach Burnout Inventory was administered again to all participants. All potential predictors of burnout were included in a logistic regression model. The efficacy of the intervention was evaluated by the chi-square test. P values < 0.05 were considered significant.
Results: The burnout prevalence among pediatric residents was 66%. After controlling for age, gender, children, and cohabitants, the prevalence of burnout was significantly higher among third-year residents (odds ratio = 11.8; 95% confidence interval 2.3-59.3; p = 0.003). There were no significant differences regarding burnout prevalence in the experimental group between the baseline and post-intervention periods (p = 0.8) or between the two groups after intervention (p = 0.8). The only difference observed was an improvement regarding "depersonalization" in the experimental group (p = 0.031).
Conclusions: The burnout prevalence among pediatric residents was 66% and was higher among third-year residents. A brief intervention was not effective in reducing burnout prevalence, despite the achievement of an improvement in “depersonalization.”

Authors
Andrea E. Martins
MD. Docencia e Investigación, Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
María C. Davenport
MD. Docencia e Investigación, Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
María de la Paz Del Valle
MD. Docencia e Investigación, Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sandra Di Lalla
MD. Docencia e Investigación, Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Paula Domínguez
MD. Docencia e Investigación, Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Laura Ormando
Servicio de Salud Mental, Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Adriana Ingratta
MD. Servicio de Salud Mental, Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Hector Gambarini
MD. Servicio de Salud Mental, Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Fernando Ferrero
PhD. MD. Docencia e Investigación, Hospital General de Niños Pedro de Elizalde, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,

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