Correlates of Burnout Syndrome among Belgrade Medical Students - A Cross-Sectional Study

Main objective: There are still gaps in the knowledge about the factors that influence burnout among medical students. This study examines the relationship between the length of medical studies, academic achievement, self-estimated health and burnout. Sample: We administered an anonymous questionnaire to 769 second-year and sixth-year medical students (69.2 % females) to collect data on age, sex, length of study, average grade, and self-estimated mental and physical health. Methods: The students completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) on emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and personal accomplishment (PA) subscales. Results: The sophomores experienced a higher level of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment compared to the students in the sixth year (MBI scores - EE /29.03 +/- 11.02 vs. 23.73 +/- 10.91/; DP /16.23 +/- 5.95 vs. 13.93 +/- 5.82/ PA /32.26 +/- 7.18 vs. 30.46 +/- 7.91/ respectively, all p < 0.001). The poorer self-estimated mental and physical health, in comparison to the period before their studies, was positively related to the scores on EE (rho =0.381 and 0.257, respectively) and DP subscales (rho =0.296 and 0.209, respectively) and negatively to PA subscale (rho =-0.211 and -0.121, respectively, all p <0.001). The higher the average grade, the lower depersonalization and the higher personal accomplishment were found among the students (rho = -0.094 and 0.121, respectively; p < 0,05). Low self-estimated health status and poorer academic achievement were the main explanatory factors of a high burnout level in a multiple regression analysis. Conclusion: The burnout syndrome is more pronounced at the beginning of medical studies compared to the final years. A high level of burnout is mainly influenced by low self-estimated health status and worse academic achievement.