Prevalence and Correlates of Burnout and Mental Distress among Healthcare Professionals of a Public SectorHospital in Lahore: ACross-sectional Study

Background: Taking into consideration the serious implications of burnout and mental distress on the well-being of healthcare providers and the quality of patient care, and a lack of scientific studies addressing these topics in hospitals of Pakistan, this study aims to determine the prevalence of mental distress and burnout and to find an association between them and also with the demographic characteristics of the participants. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of mental distress and burnout and investigate the association between them and also with the demographic characteristics of the participants. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Mayo Hospital, Lahore through printed forms which contained 38 items including two validated questionnaires: Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and General Health Questionnaire-12. A total of 250 responses from healthcare professionals were collected via consecutive non-probability sampling techniques. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 27 and a p-value below 0.05 was considered significant. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and associations were determined using the Chi-square test. Results: 70% of the participants scored for high burnout in at least one while 9.2% reported high burnout in all three subscales of MBI. 8.8% of the participants who scored high for mental distress also scored for high burnout in at least one of the subscales of MBI. A statistically significant association between Burnout and High Mental Distress was found (p=0.001). The association between mental distress and the type of profession of healthcare professionals was also noted to be significant(p<0.001). Conclusion: 70% of the participants showing high burnout in at least one subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) raises concern for the quality of life of healthcare workers and their environment. This suggests that targeted interventions be applied that involve changes in the healthcare settings to decrease workloads, enhance work-life balance, and provide attainable mental health resources specialized for the specific needs of different healthcare roles. Keywords: Professional Burnout, Occupational Burnout, psychological distress, health care providers