ORIGINAL PAPER
Burnout and resilience among physical therapy students: a cross-sectional study
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1
King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Health Rehabilitation Sciences Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences)
2
Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt (Faculty of Physical Therapy, Basic Science Department)
3
King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Department of Cardiac Sciences, College of Medicine)
4
Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Rehabilitation Sciences Department, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences)
These authors had equal contribution to this work
Online publication date: 2024-09-03
Corresponding author
Kholood Matouq Shalabi
Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Rehabilitation Sciences Department, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, P.O. Box 84428,
11671 Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2024;75(4):343-54
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ABSTRACT
Background: This study aimed to examine the prevalence of burnout, determine burnout-related factors, investigate resilience levels, and assess the relationship between burnout and resilience among physical therapy (PT) students at King Saud University (KSU) in Saudi Arabia. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 153 PT students studying at KSU between January and March 2023. The participants completed an online questionnaire, a Maslach Burnout Inventory, and a Brief Resilience Scale. Results: Low-to-moderate levels of Emotional Exhaustion (EE) were observed in 85% of the participants and high Depersonalization (DP) levels were reported by 34.2%. Female participants reported higher levels of EE and DP, whereas males had a greater prevalence of low Personal Achievement (PA) levels. Approximately 6.5% of the study participants reported high burnout levels (a combination of high DP, high EE, and low PA). Academic stress, followed by sleeping difficulties and changes in the academic year structure, were the most important factors contributing to higher levels of burnout (75.2%, 56.9%, and 43.8%, respectively). Most study participants around (66.0%) reported normal resilience levels. A significant correlation was detected between resilience and 2 domains of burnout (DP and PA), with the correlation being negative and weak for DP and positive and moderate for PA. Conclusions: Overall, low-to-moderate levels of burnout were observed among the PT students who took part. Related factors that contributed to burnout were academic stress, sleeping difficulties, and academic year structure. A normal level of resilience was found to be significantly related to DP and PA but not to EE on the burnout subscales. Higher levels of resilience can be considered to play a protective role against burnout among PT students. Med Pr Work Health Saf. 2024;75(4):343–354