Prevalence and associa ted factors of burnout syndrome among he althcare workers in public and private hospitals in Mek elle City, Ethiopia

Introduction: Burnout syndrome, an occupational negative psychosomatic condition, has three components: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and low personal achievement. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of burnout syndrome and associated factors among public and private healthcare workers in Mekelle City, Tigray, Ethiopia.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 229 healthcare workers in Mekelle, Kay Kalkidan and Ben Meskerem General Hospitals. An anonymous questionnaire was used for data collection. Pearson Chi-square test and Binary logistic regression analysis were employed. Both tests were conducted at 95% CI with p-value ≤ 0.05 as acceptance area.Result: Overall 109 (47.6%) of respondents had burnout syndrome. Workers in the private hospitals (65.8%) were more at risk compared to those in the public hospital (44.0%). The lower staff/patient ratio in the private hospitals compared with the public hospital might have contributed to the higher prevalence of burnout syndrome. Independent predictor factors were: being female, few years of work experience, working night shifts and long working hours each week.Conclusion: Prevalence of burnout syndrome was high among all respondents but particularly those working in private hospitals. Some socio demographic and occupational factors were also implicated.Keywords: Burnout, hospital healthcare workers, Ethiopia