Observational studySouth African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care2023
The psychological impact of COVID-19 on frontline doctors in Tshwane public hospitals.
Observational study in South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Burnout and Depression of Medical Faculty: After Mass Resignation of Junior Doctors in Korea.Journal of Korean medical science · 2026Article
- Reflections on Healthcare Leadership in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Crisis Leadership Development and Implementation.Journal of healthcare leadership · 2026Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder among healthcare workers from sub-Saharan Africa: systematic review.BJPsych open · 2025Review
- A review of burnout among doctors in South Africa: Pre-, during and post-COVID-19 pandemic.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2024Review
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic placed immense pressure on frontline doctors. Burnout is a psychological syndrome that develops in response to chronic work stress. It consists of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP) and reduced personal accomplishment (PA). Burnout is associated with personal dysfunction and compromises the work profession and patient safety. International studies suggest burnout is exacerbated during a pandemic.
methodsWe conducted a descriptive cross-sectional observational study. Respondents included frontline doctors working in emergency medicine, family medicine and internal medicine during COVID-19 in Tshwane public hospitals. The survey included two validated questionnaires, the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21. The aim was to determine the prevalence and severity of burnout, psychological and somatic symptoms in frontline doctors.
resultsOf the 163 participants, we found clinical burnout to be present in 58.9% (n = 96) and extreme burnout in 19.6% (n = 32). Moderate to extremely severe levels of stress, anxiety and depression were present in 55.1% (n = 90), 43.6% (n = 71) and 22.1% (n = 36) of participants, respectively. We found significant correlations between burnout and psychological symptoms. Increased levels of burnout, anxiety, depression and stress were found to be meaningfully associated with adverse somatic symptoms.
conclusionOur study demonstrated an insufferably high prevalence of burnout and psychosomatic symptoms in frontline doctors during COVID-19. In the event of future pandemics, more measures should be taken to support frontline doctors.Contribution: Pandemic-associated burnout and its psychophysical consequences have not been studied in frontline doctors in South Africa.
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