Burnout syndrome and coping strategies within palliative care settings

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of burnout among physicians within Palliative Care settings and to evaluate its relation to their preferred coping style. 60 palliative care physicians (28 from hospices and 32 from hospitals) were examined for burnout symptoms (Maslach Burnout Inventory) and coping style preferences (COPE questionnaire), versus a control group (n=58) not attending palliative cases. Pearson correlations were run to evaluate the amount of correlations. Doctors working in hospital palliative care settings had a significantly higher prevalence of burnout, compared with those working in both other groups (p<.05). Physicians from both palliative care settings used more substantially emotion-centered coping strategies, some positively correlated to high scores of burnout [disengagement (p<.05), denial (p<.05)], and some negatively [religious coping (p<.01), positive reinterpretation (p<.05)]. The response rate in both palliative care study groups was lower (43,75–57,14%) compared to the control group (75,86%).High prevalence of burnout, extensive use of disadaptative coping strategies and avoidance in expressing burnout suggest a real inefficiency of doctors interacting with palliative cases to handle the work pressures they have to confront with.Psychotherapeutic assistance and training programs to identify burnout signs and to improve coping skills should be undertaken, to enhance the quality of life and work of physicians from this field.

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burnout - coping - palliative