Burnout and its associated factors among healthcare workers and the general working population in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide cross-sectional internet-based study

Takahiro Matsuo; Takashi Yoshioka; Ryo Okubo; Kazuya Nagasaki; Takahiro Tabuchi

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064716

Burnout and its associated factors among healthcare workers and the general working population in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide cross-sectional internet-based study

BMJ Open. 2022 Nov 24;12(11):e064716. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064716.

Authors

Takahiro Matsuo^#^{1

2

3}, Takashi Yoshioka^#⁴, Ryo Okubo⁵, Kazuya Nagasaki⁶, Takahiro Tabuchi^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
² Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
³ Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Luke's International Hospital, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, Keio University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan ty5733@keio.jp.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
⁶ Department of Internal Medicine, Mito Kyodo General Hospital, Mito, Ibaraki, Japan.
⁷ Cancer Control Center, Osaka International Cancer Institute, Osaka-shi, Osaka, Japan.
⁸ The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the prevalence and the associated factors of burnout among both healthcare workers (HCWs) and the general working population, which has not yet been unknown, using large-scale, nationwide data.

Design: Cross-sectional internet-based study.

Setting: Nationwide internet survey conducted between 8 and 26 February 2021 in Japan.

Participants: Workers aged 20-64 years. We classified the workers as HCWs and the general working population.

Exposures: Demographic characteristics (age, sex and marital status), socioeconomic status (education, employment and income), health-related, work-related and industry-related factors (smoking, alcohol use, physical and psychiatric comorbidities, working hours, types of healthcare professionals, experience on the COVID-19 frontline and working industries).

Main outcome measures: Burnout defined as a score of ≥3 points on the Mini-Z Single-Item Burnout Scale.

Results: Of the included 12 650 workers, 1087 were HCWs. After inverse probability weighting on data from the 2016 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions, burnout in HCWs and the general working population was 33.5% (95% CI 29.2% to 38.0%) and 31.0% (95% CI 29.7% to 32.4%), respectively. In the weighted multivariable modified Poisson regression models, working 60 hours or more was associated with burnout in all workers (HCWs: prevalence ratio (PR) 2.52, 95% CI 1.68 to 3.76; general population: PR 1.26, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.48). Widowed/separated compared with married was associated with burnout only among HCWs (PR 1.69, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.47), whereas presence of physical or psychiatric comorbidities was associated with burnout among the general working population (PR 1.14, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.28; and PR 1.65, 95% CI 1.45 to 1.87, respectively).

Conclusions: Burnout was prevalent in both HCWs and the general working population in Japan. Both common and specific risk factors were observed. Our findings highlight the need for the general workplace policy and targeted interventions for burnout prevention.

Keywords: mental health; occupational & industrial medicine; public health.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Burnout, Professional* / epidemiology
Burnout, Professional* / etiology
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Health Personnel / psychology
Humans
Internet
Japan / epidemiology
Pandemics