Socio-demographics characteristics and patterns of burnout syndrome among college academic staff in Kenya

Abstract

Long periods of work may lead to chronic fatigue which is a precursor of burnout syndrome. To determine the prevalence of burnout Syndrome and the factors associated with its precipitation among the academic staff at Kenya Medical Training College, Nairobi, and Campus. A cross-section sample survey that recruited a total population of 139 academic staff in all the academic departments at KMTC, Nairobi Campus. Self-administered instruments were used which included a Social Demographic (SDQ) questionnaire developed by the researcher on general personal particulars and work related information and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The researcher observed all ethical considerations and the data was analyzed using SPSS utilizing descriptive and inferential statistics. Results were presented in tables and narratives. Sixty 65.1% had high and 34.9% had average levels of burnout syndrome (p=0.007). Eighty five percent (85%) of whom had emotional exhaustion (p=0.01). All the respondents had high levels of depersonalization, and 67.6% had low levels of personal accomplishment (p=0.036). The highest risk factor for the developing burnout syndrome was being an academic lecturer, being over 41 years and having worked at KMTC for over 6 years (p>0.001), not taking annual leave (p=0.001) and being married with 1-5 children (p=0.036), being married with the highest professional qualification of a diploma or higher Diploma (p=0.009), working more hours beyond normal (p=0.023), absence of social support (p=0.049) and undertaking studies as the respondents was on fulltime employment (0.029). Burnout was prevalent among teaching staff at KMTC. This calls for measures to prevent chronic physical conditions associated with burnout.