Prevalence and Predictors of Burnout Syndrome among Medical Students of Cairo University

Background: Medical students and trainees experience burnout, syndrome portrayed by emotional exhaustion, cynicism and low sense of professional efficacy. Burnout can demolish professionalism and contribute to medical errors. Objective: to estimate the prevalence of burnout syndrome among medical students, to explore the association between different demographic and lifestyle variables and burnout syndrome. Method: A cross-sectional study design was conducted on a convenient sample of 350 students from the first, fourth and sixth academic grades. A structured self-administrated questionnaire was used for socio-demographic and lifestyle data collection in addition to Maslach burnout inventory- student survey (MBI-SS). Results: About 38.1% of the study population experienced high emotional exhaustion subscale, whereas students suffering from high cynicism subscale and low professional efficacy subscale represented 32.4% and 31% respectively of the study population. Significant association was highlighted between high emotional exhaustion and female students getting inadequate sleep, suffering from chronic illness, and having little or no leisure time. High cynicism was significantly associated with being an Egyptian student or living with family. Low professional efficacy was significantly associated with low academic score, having little or no leisure time and lack of physical activity. Worrying about choosing a specialty and future income ranked the most significant predictors for high emotional exhaustion and cynicism scores. Conclusion: Tremendous efforts ought to be applied to investigate stressors faced by the students and to embrace Burnout preventive and Interventional measures accordingly.