Burnout and Cardiovascular Risk in Healthcare Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

INTRODUCTION

The objective of this study was to investigate the psychosocial and cardiovascular markers in healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

This was a STROBE compliant, blended exploratory study. Residents, staff physicians, nurses, and auxiliary healthcare professionals from both inpatient and outpatient medicine services were recruited using a planned random probability sample. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Fuster-BEWAT score (FBS), and socio-demographic factors, as well as sleep quality, were studied. The correlations between burnout severity and cardiovascular risk were examined using multivariable linear regression models adjusted for confounding variables, such as sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics.

RESULTS

The regression analysis with FBS as the outcome showed a negative association between cardiovascular health and emotional exhaustion [Coef.(95%CI): -0.029 (-0.048, -0.01), p = 0.002]. The higher the emotional exhaustion the lower the cardiovascular health. Further, the model showed a positive association between personal accomplishment and cardiovascular health [Coef.(95%CI): 0.045 (0.007, 0.082), p = 0.02]. Emotional exhaustion was significantly positive correlated with REM sleep and light average (Spearman's rank correlation: 0.37 and 0.35, respectively, with P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The data from this study show that healthcare practitioners who are with burnout and emotional exhaustion have an elevated cardiovascular risk, however, causality cannot be determined. As an adaptive response to stressful situations, REM sleep increases. The findings of this study may be relevant in creating preventive strategies for burnout and cardiovascular risk reduction or prevention.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

[www.ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT04422418].

Association between occupational burnout and heart rate variability: A pilot study in a high-tech company in Taiwan

Work stress and burnout have become important issues. Changes in work patterns frequently, long working hours, and too much pressure among workers in high-tech companies may result in the chronic fatigue symptoms and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, even leading to sudden death. Changes of heart rate variability (HRV) can be treated as a warning from the autonomic nervous systems and as a long-term monitoring method for chronic disease, for example, cardiovascular diseases and sudden death. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between occupational burnout and HRV.Proportional stratified convenient sampling was performed and in total, 120 individuals participated in this study. Questionnaires and the "occupational burnout inventory" were used to collect biographical and burnout information. A novel wrist physiological monitor was used to measure autonomic nervous system-related data, including HRV, low-frequency (LF) %, high-frequency (HF) %, and LF/HF ratio. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were computed using SPSS 17.0 (Chinese version, IBM Corp., New York, NY).The results show that participants who were 20 to 25 years old, work overtime because of onerous personal tasks, had a medical history, and recently felt unwell have higher "personal burnout." "Participants with a graduate degree, with onerous tasks, who were indirect staff, and with a regular-hour job tended to overcommit to their work." Significant associations were found among medical history, recently feeling unwell, and "work-related burnout." There was a positive association between HRV and job seniority. LF%, HF%, and LF/HF ratio were significantly correlated with job category. "Work overcommitment" was related to LF/HF ratio among men. Some items in "personal burnout" and "work overcommitment" were also associated with HRV among women.The findings suggest that the measurement of HRV can be applied in occupational settings to assess burnout. It not only allows administrators to quickly select the colleagues who need health care, but also provides timely and appropriate care, thereby promoting the health of the worker.