Burnout Among First-Year Medical Students During COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico: A Cross-Sectional Study

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2022.1129

Keywords:

Psychological burnout, COVID-19, Pandemic, Medical students

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus pandemic is an international public health emergency without precedence in modern history. It represents a challenge to students’ academic and psychological stability due to the changes it caused in daily life. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and level of burnout in medical students caused by the academic and psychological instability that the pandemic represents.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was designed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS). This evaluated the emotional exhaustion due to study demands, cynicism, and negative self-academic efficacy. This study was based in the school of medicine of the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (UANL) in Monterrey, Mexico, during the Spring semester of 2020.

Results: A total of 154 (93 women and 61 men) first-year medical students participated (response rate of 36.4%). Burnout was identified in 14.9% (n=23), and high emotional exhaustion in 53.9% (n=83). Burnout was almost 4 times more likely to develop in men than in women (aOR = 4.8; 95% Confidence Interval=1.7-13.3) when considering age as a covariable in the multivariable model.

Conclusion: Further epidemiological studies of burnout syndrome in medical students are needed, and schools should consider promoting mental health and making programs available for their students to help overcome the emotional and social challenges during the pandemic.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Plutchik R. Burnout: The Cost of Caring—by Christina Maslach, Ph. D. Psychiatric Services. 1983;34:650.

Zis P, Artemiadis A, Bargiotas P, Nteveros A, Hadjigeorgiou GM, et al. Medical Studies during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Impact of Digital Learning on Medical Students' Burnout and Mental Health. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(1):349.

Salanova M, Bresó E, Schaufeli WB. Hacia un modelo espiral de las creencias de eficacia en el estudio del burnout y del engagement. [Towards a spiral model of the efficacy beliefs in the study of burnout and engagement.]. Ansiedad y Estrés. 2005;11(2-3):215-31.

Maslach C, Jackson SE, Leiter MP. Maslach burnout inventory. Third ed. Wood CPZRJ, editor: Scarecrow Education; 1997. 191-218.

Olivares-Faúndez VE, Mena-Miranda L, Jélvez-Wilker C, Macía-Sepúlveda F. Validez factorial del Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services (MBIHSS) en profesionales chilenos. [Factorial validity of Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services (MBI-HSS) in Chilean Professionals.]. Universitas Psychologica. 2014;13(1):145-59.

Schaufeli WB, Salanova M, Gonza?lez-Roma? V, Bakker AB. The measurement of engagement and burnout: A two sample confirmatory factor analytic approach. J Happiness Stud. 2002;3:71-92.

Mikolajczyk RT, El Ansari W, Maxwell AE. Food consumption frequency and perceived stress and depressive symptoms among students in three European countries. Nutr J. 2009;8(1):1-8.

Williams ES, Konrad TR, Linzer M, McMurray J, Pathman DE, Gerrity M, et al. Physician, practice, and patient characteristics related to primary care physician physical and mental health: results from the Physician Worklife Study. Health Serv Res. 2002;37(1):121-43.

Dugani S, Afari H, Hirschhorn LR, Ratcliffe H, Veillard J, Martin G, et al. Prevalence and factors associated with burnout among frontline primary health care providers in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review. Gates open research. 2018;2:4.

Arora A, Kannan S, Gowri S, Choudhary S, Sudarasanan S, Khosla PP. Substance abuse amongst the medical graduate students in a developing country. Indian J Med Res. 2016;143(1):101-3.

Park CL, Armeli, S, Tennen H. The daily stress and coping process and alcohol use among college students. J Stud Alcohol. 2004;65(1):126-35.

Krebs C, Quiroga-Garza A, Pennefather P, Elizondo-Omaña RE. Ethics behind technology-enhanced medical education and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eur J Anat. 2021;25(4):515-22.

Wright K, Sarangi A, Ibrahim Y. The psychiatric effects of COVID-19 thus far: a review of the current literature. Southwest Respir Crit Care Chron. 2020;8(35):17-28

Sarangi A, Fares S, Eskander N. Suicide trends in the elderly during the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic- a public health urgency. Southwest Respir Crit Care Chron. 2021;9(40):31-6.

Amanullah S, Ramesh Shankar R. The Impact of COVID-19 on Physician Burnout Globally: A Review. Healthcare (Basel). 2020;8(4):421.

Kannampallil TG, Goss CW, Evanoff BA, Strickland JR, McAlister RP, Duncan J. Exposure to COVID-19 patients increases physician trainee stress and burnout. PLoS One. 2020;15(8):e0237301.

Aebischer O, Weilenmann S, Gachoud D, Mean M, Spiller TR. Physical and psychological health of medical students involved in the coronavirus disease 2019 response in Switzerland. Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20418.

Komer L. COVID-19 amongst the pandemic of medical student mental health. Int J Med Stud. 2020;8(1):56-7.

Jezzini-Martinez S, Quiroga-Garza A, Jacobo-Baca G, Guzman-Lopez S, Salinas-Alvarez Y, Martinez-Garza JH, et al. COVID-19 Causing Burnout Among Medical Students. FASEB J. 2021;35(S1):S1.04749.

Muñoz-Leija MA, Zarate-Garza PP, Jacobo-Baca G, Quiroga-Garza A, Salinas-Alvarez Y, Martinez-Garza JH, et al. Modifications to the delivery of a gross anatomy course during the COVID-19 pandemic at a Mexican medical school. Eur J Anat. 2020;24(6):507-12.

Martínez CH, Domi?nguez CC. Validacio?n del cuestionario Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS) en contexto acade?mico colombiano. [Validation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS) questionnaire in a Colombian academic context.] CES Psicologi?a 2016;9(1):1-15. spa

Hu Q, Schaufeli WB. The factorial validity of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey in China. Psychol Rep. 2009;105(2):394-408.

Asencio-Lopez L, Almaraz-Celis GD, Carrillo Maciel V, Huerta Valenzuela P, Silva Goytia L, Munoz Torres M, et al. Burnout syndrome in first to sixth-year medical students at a private university in the north of Mexico: descriptive cross-sectional study. Medwave. 2016;16(3):e6432.

Son C, Hegde S, Smith A, Wang X, Sasangohar F. Effects of COVID-19 on College Students' Mental Health in the United States: Interview Survey Study. J Med Internet Res. 2020;22(9):e21279.

Ishak W, Nikravesh R, Lederer S, Perry R, Ogunyemi D, Bernstein C. Burnout in medical students: a systematic review. Clin Teach. 2013;10(4):242-5.

Published

2022-04-25 — Updated on 2022-07-12

Versions

How to Cite

Jezzini-Martinez, S. ., Martinez-Garza, J. H., Quiroga-Garza, A. ., Zarate-Garza, P. P., Jacobo-Baca, G., Gutierrez-De la O, J., de la Fuente-Villarreal, D., Salinas-Alvarez, Y., Elizondo-Omaña, R. E., & Guzman-Lopez, S. (2022). Burnout Among First-Year Medical Students During COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico: A Cross-Sectional Study. International Journal of Medical Students, 10(2), 180–184. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2022.1129 (Original work published June 30, 2022)

Issue

Section

Short Communication

Categories

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Similar Articles

1 2 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.