• Li-Ping Chou, Chung-Yi Li, and Susan C Hu.
• Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Sin-Lau Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan.
• BMJ Open. 2014 Feb 25; 4 (2): e004185.

ObjectivesTo explore the prevalence and associated factors of burnout among five different medical professions in a regional teaching hospital.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingHospital-based survey.ParticipantsA total of 1329 medical professionals were recruited in a regional hospital with a response rate of 89%. These voluntary participants included 101 physicians, 68 physician assistants, 570 nurses, 216 medical technicians and 374 administrative staff.Primary And Secondary Outcome MeasuresDemographic data included gender, age, level of education and marital status, and work situations, such as position, work hours and work shifts, were obtained from an electronic questionnaire. Job strain and burnout were measured by two validated questionnaires, the Chinese version of the Job Content Questionnaire and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory.ResultsAmong the five medical professions, the prevalence of high work-related burnout from highest to lowest was nurses (66%), physician assistants (61.8%), physicians (38.6%), administrative staff (36.1%) and medical technicians (31.9%), respectively. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that job strain, overcommitment and low social support explained the most variance (32.6%) of burnout.ConclusionsPhysician assistant is an emerging high burnout group; its severity is similar to that of nurses and far more than that of physicians, administrative staff and medical technicians. These findings may contribute to the development of feasible strategies to reduce the stress which results in the burnout currently plaguing most hospitals in Taiwan.

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