Burnout among EMS/MICU staff

Purpose of the study: Determine the prevalence of burnout (BO) among Tunisian Emergency medical services (EMS) and mobile intensive care unit (MICU) staff and its associated factors. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional multicenter study based on a self-questionnaire including two scales to assess occupational stress (Karasek and Siegrist models) and a specific scale assessing BO (Maslach Burnout Inventory). This questionnaire was administrated to all the medical and paramedical staff aged over 20 years and working in different public structures of EMS/MICU. Results: Our study involved 129 EMS/MICU healthcare workers with a response rate of 63.2%. All participants enrolled in the study suffered from BO at different levels. A high level of BO was statistically associated with age < 35 years (p = 0.001), unmarried marital status (p = 0.001), sleep disorders (p = 0.001), insomnia (p = 0.001), job tenure < 10 years (p = 0.001), the intervention station (p = 0.001), workload (p = 0.001), number of hours worked per week (p = 0.001), not benefiting of compensatory rest (p = 0.001), poor working conditions (p = 0.001) and low psychological demand score (< 25) (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Our results confirm that the EMS/MICU staff is at high risk of developing burnout. Thus, the implementing of a program of prevention, information and supervision is necessary.