The impact of personality traits on professional burnout syndrome in physicians and nurses of intensive care units

In fast-paced world and associated stress, it is especially important to consider the impact of various factors on mental state. Primarily, these factors include exposure to stress in the workplace. Anesthesiology and intensive care are among the specialties where factors of psychoemotional stress are particularly pronounced. Psychological characteristics of a person may influence predisposition to burnout in specialists working in anesthesiology and intensive care. Objective. To assess the influence of psychological characteristics on burnout syndrome in specialists working in anesthesiology and intensive care. Material and methods. A total of 387 employees (anesthesiologists, intensive care specialists and nurses) of ICUs were surveyed. Participants were asked to provide the following information: gender, age, length of service, position, academic degree, marital status, and number of children. The following psychological assessment methods were used: the Individual Typological Questionnaire (authored by L.N. Sobchik) and the MBI Professional Burnout Questionnaire adapted by N.E. Vodopyanova. After excluding questionnaires unsuitable for analysis, data from 241 respondents were used for statistical analysis. Results. Among anesthesiologists and intensive care specialists, anxiety predicted such professional burnout signs as emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Introversion positively correlated with inverted indicator of reduced professional achievement. Spontaneity prevents emotional exhaustion, extroversion prevents depersonalization, and emotional lability and extroversion prevent reduced professional achievement. Rigidity positively correlated with emotional exhaustion scores in female physicians and with depersonalization in representatives of all groups. Among department heads, elevated anxiety and introversion had opposite effects and reduced signs of professional burnout, as did sensitivity. Among nurses, introversion and anxiety increased emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, extroversion reduced signs of emotional burnout, and spontaneity and aggressiveness prevented decline in professional achievement. Conclusion. We obtained data on increased risk of professional burnout among ICU employees with high levels of anxiety, rigidity, introversion and low extroversion.