Job burnout predictors in community pharmacists in Serbia

Objectives: A number of socio - demographic factors influence the occurrence of job burnout in community pharmacists. Aim is determine the relationship between community pharmacist burnout degree with professional stress and socio-damographic factors. Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey with the convenient sample of 386 community pharmacists coming from all the regions from the country. The questionnaire was administered to them at their pharmacies or during a branch`s pharmacy meetings, following the drop-off/ pick up survey technique. The instrument was a five-point Likert type scale of 25 items. Descriptive statistics, Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation analysis were used for data analysis. Results: More than half of the respond- ents stressed (62%), and 42% of pharmacists is at burnout risk. There is a high degree of correlation between occupational stress and job burnout (r = 0.724, p < 0.01). Job burnout risk is correlated with the following socio-demographic fac- tors: the age pharmacist (r = 0.127, p < 0.01), pharmacists work experience (r = 0.138, p < 0.01), and the organization of shift work in pharmacies (r = - 0.312, p < 0.01). ANOVA showed that, depending on whether they work alone in the shift, with the one pharmacist in shift, with more pharmacists in shift, with pharmaceutical technician in shift, pharmacists differ significantly according to the risk of job burnout (F (3,382) = 61.013, p = 0.01) . Burnout risk increases with age (F (4,381) = 2.575, p = 0.01), and work experience (F (3,382) = 6.080, p = 0.01). ConClusions: Job burnout risk is correlated with the degree of exposure to professional stress, and increases with pharmacists age and work experience. The greatest job burnout risk are pharmacists working alone in a shift and phar- macists working with a pharmaceutical technician. The results indicate that socio-demographic factors and exposure to professional stress lead to job burnou