• MedeirosAna Irene Carlos deAIC0000-0003-2958-6079PT. Doctoral Student, Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza (CE), Brazil., Rafael Barreto de Mesquita, Felipe de Souza Macêdo, Antonio George de Calvacante Matos, and Eanes Delgado Pereira.
• PT. Doctoral Student, Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), Fortaleza (CE), Brazil.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2022 Jul 1; 140 (4): 553-558.

BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has placed considerable psychological stress on frontline healthcare workers (HCWs).ObjectiveTo evaluate the prevalence of burnout syndrome among HCWs facing the COVID-19 outbreak.Design And SettingCross-sectional study conducted in six public intensive care units (ICUs) in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil.MethodsAn online survey was conducted among HCWs to measure the three dimensions of burnout.ResultsA total of 62 physicians (23.4%), 65 nurses (24.5%), 58 nurse technologists (21.9%) and 80 physiotherapists (30.2%) completed the questionnaire. Nearly half of the participants (48.6%) had high levels of emotional exhaustion, and almost one-third of them (29.4%) had high levels of depersonalization. Low levels of professional efficacy were observed in 18.1% of the sample. The independent determinants of depersonalization burnout were age < 33 years (odds ratio, OR 2.03; 95% confidence interval, CI 1.15-3.56; P = 0.01) and female gender (OR 0.33; 95% CI 0.18-0.62; P = 0.01). Increased workload was associated with both depersonalization (OR 2.37; 95% CI 2.02-5.50; P = 0.04) and emotional exhaustion (OR 1.89; 95% CI 1.04-3.58; P = 0.030).ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a great impact on the dimensions of depersonalization and emotional exhaustion. Consideration of these dimensions is important when designing future burnout prevention programs for frontline personnel.

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