[Risk of Burnout syndrome in medical professionals in Córdoba City, Argentina]

Background: Burnout syndrome is a chronic, adaptive disorder, being considered the most important cause of work injury of psychosocial cause. The objective was to know the risk of burnout in Córdoba city’s physician and its relationship with sociodemographic factors and clinical and surgical specialties. Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was performed in 10 care centers in Córdoba City. Physicians were interviewed, we ask about sociodemographic variables and the Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire was done to objectify the risk of Burnout. The age was stratified by decades from 20 to 60 years. p < a 0,05 was considered significant. Results: 483 physicians were interviewed, 62,1% were women, 70% were between 20 and 40 years of age; 54.2% single, 42.9% had a time of exercised in the profession below 5 years. 66 of the total (16,5%) had a high risk of burnout, it was associated with the fact to work in a public establishment (p < 0.00001), to be single (p < 0.009), to work more than 60 h (p<0.001), sleeping less than 42 h per week (p < 0.005), less than five years of profession (p < 0.0002); to be from 20 to 29 years old ( p <0.0005) , the protective factor was to have children (p <0.006). There were no differences between clinical and surgical specialties. Young professionals, with lower family restraint and greater labor demand, are those that present a greater risk of burnout. Institutions should identify their risk professionals and develop mechanisms for the protection and treatment of those affected.