A review of burnout among doctors in South Africa: Pre-, during and post-COVID-19 pandemic

South African Family Practice

 
 
Field Value
 
Title A review of burnout among doctors in South Africa: Pre-, during and post-COVID-19 pandemic
 
Creator Khan, Saajida Ntatamala, Itumeleng Adams, Shahieda
 
Subject Occupational Health; Psychiatry, Primary Care burnout; doctors; COVID-19; South Africa; prevalence; determinants.
Description Background: Burnout is defined as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress, which has been unsuccessfully managed. By increasing the occupational challenges faced by doctors, the COVID-19 pandemic potentiated their risk for burnout. This review aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants of burnout among doctors working in South African health facilities pre-, during and post-COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted. PubMed, SCOPUS and EBSCO databases were searched for English publications until April 2024.Results: A total of 22 cross-sectional studies were included. The prevalence of burnout among doctors working in South African health facilities ranged from 4% to 84% pre-pandemic and 58.9% to 78.0% during and post pandemic, respectively. The lower value of the burnout prevalence range was higher during the pandemic. This review confirmed that individual factors (gender, age, marital status, junior status, practice setting) as well as occupational factors (workload, job control, moral distress, health system issues, job satisfaction, support at work and resilience) were associated with burnout in doctors. There was no significant association between burnout and factors related to COVID-19.Conclusion: While considerable variability exists in the prevalence of burnout among doctors working in South African health facilities, pre-, during and post-COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic resulted in greater burnout rates. Factors associated with burnout include both individual and organisational factors, which need to be addressed to mitigate burnout.Contribution: Mitigation of burnout in South African health facilities should focus on individual-based and context-related interventional measures at an organisational level.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2024-10-28
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Narrative review
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/safp.v66i1.6002
 
Source South African Family Practice; Vol 66, No 1 (2024): Part 4; 10 pages 2078-6204 2078-6190
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/6002/9125 https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/6002/9126 https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/6002/9127 https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/6002/9128
 
Coverage South Africa Studies published until 22 April 2024 Medical doctors working in South African health facilities
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Saajida Khan, Itumeleng Ntatamala, Shahieda Adams https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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