Burnout syndrome among dentists: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: Burnout syndrome has negative consequences on the dentist’s health and performance during work. This systematic review aimed to assess the prevalence of Burnout syndrome in dentists. Methods: Searches were carried out in Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, EMBASE, LILACS databases, and searches in the gray literature on January 27, 2021. There were no restrictions on language and search period. For the diagnosis of Burnout, only studies that used the Maslach burnout inventory questionnaire and its subscales emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and reduced personal accomplishment (PA) were included. Proportion meta-analyses were performed using the Stata 13.0 software. Results: A total of 37 articles were included in the narrative and 31 in quantitative syntheses. The overall prevalence of Burnout syndrome in dentists was 13% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.006-0.21; I²: 97.07%) and the total prevalence in the subscales EE, DP, and PA, were, respectively: 28% (95% CI: 0.24-0.32; I²: 20.70%), 18% (95% CI: 0.08-0.28; I²: 85.61%) and 10% (95% CI: 0.08-0.13; I²: 0%). About the levels of Burnout syndrome in the subscales, 25% (95% CI: 0.19-0.31; I² 92.58%) presented high EE, 18% (95% CI: 0.10-0.26; I² 96.62%) high DP and 32% (95% 0.20-0.45; I² 97.86%) low PA. About continuous data, the mean of EE, DP and PA was respectively 17.90 (95% CI: 9.36-26.43; I² 94.8), 6.93 (95% CI: 3.41-10.45; I² 80.2) and, 34.69 (95% CI: 23.82-45.55; I² 98.8). No study presented all the positive criteria of the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal checklist..Conclusion: In conclusion, there was a considerable prevalence of burnout syndrome in dentists, mainly in the subscale of emotional exhaustion