Comparison of Reported Burnout Rates During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: High rates of burnout are reported among health care professionals, but data are limited on key drivers of burnout among respiratory therapists. The purpose of this abstract is to compare estimated burnout rates, key drivers of burnout, and resilience resources within RT departments in states with high COVID-19 prevalence compared to areas of lower prevalence. We hypothesized that there would be significant differences in estimated burnout rates and key drivers between areas of high and low COVID-19 prevalence.

Methods: We did a post-hoc analysis of a survey on RT burnout and resilience resources in respiratory care departments. Comparisons were made between states with higher prevalence of COVID-19 and those reporting lower disease prevalence. High-prevalence was a priori defined as states where disease rates were > 500 cases per 100,000 residents; according to aggregated data sourced from Johns Hopkins COVID-19 database as of May 29, 2020. We analyzed key drivers of burnout mentioned by > 5% of respondents in either group. Key drivers of burnout were compared between the two groups using Fisher’s Exact Test or Chi-square.

Results: Our survey had 164 unique responses from 42 states. Fifteen states experienced > 500 cases per 100,000 residents. One hundred fifty-four (93%) of the survey responses met criteria for inclusion. Of these, 24% (n=37) were from COVID-19 hotspots, while 86% (n=117) were not in areas of high disease prevalence. There were no differences for departments reporting an estimated burnout rate > 40% both before (P =0.88) and after (P =0.92). Key drivers were reported for both groups for high work load (41% versus 29%, P =0.23) and staffing issues (32% versus 30%, P =0.84) but there were no differences between groups. Other key drivers were not statistically significant between groups. Table 1 More respondents in COVID-19 hotspots (19% vs. 6%, P =0.03) reported measuring burnout. Work-life balance was reported as a statistically significant driver of burnout (14% versus 3%, P =0.02). Respondents in COVID-19 hotspots cited lack of coping skills as a driver of burnout at a higher rate than non-hotspots (11% versus 1%, P =0.01).

Conclusions: Areas of the US which did not experience high rates of COVID-19 were less likely to measure burnout in their institutions. Work-life balance and lack of coping skills were reported as significant drivers of burnout in COVID-19 hotspots. Future research may elucidate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on burnout among respiratory therapists.