Comparative Assessment of Burnout Syndrome in Medical and Dental Senior Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Background: Burnout is observed when there is chronic exposure to work-related stress. This is commonly seen in physicians and undergraduate medical students. Thus, the study assessed and compared the severity of burnout among medical and dental senior undergraduate students in Abha, Saudi Arabia. Materials and method: 517 medical and dental senior undergraduate students were evaluated using a well-designed and formulated questionnaire. Different levels of burnout were evaluated with the related scores of burnout categories. Data collected was evaluated using SPSS version 25.0. Results: A total of 772 medical and dental senior undergraduate students were included in the study, out of which 517 responded to the questionnaire, with a response rate of t 67%. Demographic parameters like age, gender, marital status, and the course were assessed. The mean scores of Personal Accomplishment (PA), Emotional Exhaustion (EE), and Depersonalization (DP) for all study subjects were recorded, showing an insignificant difference (p-value > 0.05) between both the groups in all the three categories. Considering Personal Accomplishment, the lowest mean values were observed with subjects aged 23 years old, female participants, and unmarried students, with insignificant correlation, observed statistically. Conclusion: Moderate to high levels of burnout with no significant difference was observed between medical and dental students in all three burnout categories.