RESEARCH | Article Burnout syndrome, sleep quality and the effect of the practice of physical activities among community pharmacists in Douala, Cameroon: a cross-sectional study
Résumé
Background Burnout is a human psychological response to work stress, increasingly prevalent among healthcare
professionals and associated with multiple contributing factors. The present study aimed to determine burnout prevalence and its associations with physical activity (PAc) and poor sleep quality (PSQ) in community
pharmacists.
Method A cross-sectional study was conducted among community pharmacists in Douala, Cameroon. Burnout
was assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS). PSQ and PAc were
assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ
short form), respectively. Associations were tested using chi-squared tests and bivariate analysis, with statistical
significance set at P<0.05.
Results A total of 136 pharmacists (mean age 32±7 years) with female dominance (n=72%, 52.9%) were
included. The overall prevalence of burnout was 65.4% (n=89/136), with low severity in 82.0% (n=73/89),
moderate in 7.9% (n=7/89) and severe in 10.1% (n=9/89). High emotional exhaustion (EE), high depersonalization and low personal accomplishment were found in 20.6% (n=28), 14.0% (n=19) and 51.5% (n=70) of participants, respectively. Burnout was more (P>0.05), in males (n=45, 50.6%), in pharmacists under 30 years old
(n=41, 46.1%) and in those who found work exhausting (n=29, 32.6%). Likewise, most of the assistants’ pharmacists were suffering from burnout (n=77, 86.5%), more than half of participants with PSQ (n=,62, 69.7%) and
moderate PAc (n=61, 68.5%) were affected by burnout. Ppresence of burnout was significantly associated with
taking annual holidays (OR: 0.34; 95% CI. 0.13–0.89; P=0.02). Pharmacists with other activities were associated
with low burnout (OR: 2.29; 95% CI. 1.10–4.77; P=0.02). Depending on the dimension, pharmacists with PSQ were associated with high or moderate EE (OR: 2.26; 95% CI. 1.10–4.78; P=0.03). Furthermore, moderate PAc
was associated with higher odds of high/moderate depersonalization compared with low PAc (OR: 5.10; 95% CI.
1.41–18.40; P=0.01) No statistically significant association was found between overall burnout and PAc or PSQ.
Conclusion This study revealed a high prevalence of burnout among community pharmacists, predominantly of
low severity. PSQ was associated with high or moderate EE. Even moderate PAc was associated with higher odds
of depersonalization.