IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v69y2023i4p1033-1042.html

Burnout, mental health, physical symptoms, and coping behaviors in healthcare workers in Belize amidst COVID-19 pandemic: A nationwide cross-sectional study

Author

Listed:
  • Lila Estephan
  • Christy Pu
  • Selma Bermudez
  • Alexander Waits

Abstract

Background: Healthcare workers are vulnerable to burnout, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic in the low resource settings. Belize is a small Central American developing country known for its chronic healthcare worker shortage and this is the first study to assess burnout prevalence and its associated factors among healthcare workers in Belize. Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of burnout and its associated factors in HCWs in Belize covering multiple domains (mental health, physical symptoms, and coping behaviors) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional survey that was developed and validated by a panel of experts was delivered online to all the healthcare workers in Belize from September to November 2021. Burnout was assessed using Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Depression and anxiety screening was carried out using the Patient Health Questionnaire – 2 (PHQ-2) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item (GAD-2). Burnout associated factors were estimated using logistic regression models. Findings: Of the total of 263 participants, 27.76% had overall burnout: 56.65% had personal, 54.37% had work-related, and 19.39% had patient-related burnout. Burnout was positively associated with anxiety (OR: 3.14 [1.67, 5.92]), depression (OR: 4.45 [2.30, 8.61]), intentions of quitting their jobs (OR: 2.59 [1.49, 4.51]), health status worsening (OR: 2.21 [1.26, 3.87]), multiple physical symptom presentation (OR: 1.19, [1.10, 1.29]), and use of multiple maladaptive coping behaviors (OR: 1.66, [1.30, 2.12]). Interpretation: Healthcare workers in Belize showed substantial levels of burnout which were significantly associated with using maladaptive coping behaviors, presenting multiple physical symptoms, quitting their jobs, health status worsening, and other mental health issues. These findings should be used to develop and implement programs such as regular health check-ups, health promotion awareness campaigns, and worker recruitment strategies which would improve the working conditions, quality of life, and psychological well-being of our healthcare workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Lila Estephan & Christy Pu & Selma Bermudez & Alexander Waits, 2023. "Burnout, mental health, physical symptoms, and coping behaviors in healthcare workers in Belize amidst COVID-19 pandemic: A nationwide cross-sectional study," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(4), pages 1033-1042, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:69:y:2023:i:4:p:1033-1042
    DOI: 10.1177/00207640231152209
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00207640231152209
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00207640231152209?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:plo:pone00:0159015 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Nicola Magnavita & Francesco Chirico & Sergio Garbarino & Nicola Luigi Bragazzi & Emiliano Santacroce & Salvatore Zaffina, 2021. "SARS/MERS/SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks and Burnout Syndrome among Healthcare Workers. An Umbrella Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-13, April.
    3. Luca A Morgantini & Ushasi Naha & Heng Wang & Simone Francavilla & Ömer Acar & Jose M Flores & Simone Crivellaro & Daniel Moreira & Michael Abern & Martin Eklund & Hari T Vigneswaran & Stevan M Weine, 2020. "Factors contributing to healthcare professional burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid turnaround global survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(9), pages 1-11, September.
    4. Denise Albieri Jodas Salvagioni & Francine Nesello Melanda & Arthur Eumann Mesas & Alberto Durán González & Flávia Lopes Gabani & Selma Maffei de Andrade, 2017. "Physical, psychological and occupational consequences of job burnout: A systematic review of prospective studies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(10), pages 1-29, October.
    5. Yuki Chatani & Kyoko Nomura & Haruko Hiraike & Akiko Tsuchiya & Hiroko Okinaga, 2021. "Multiple Physical Symptoms Are Useful to Identify High Risk Individuals for Burnout: A Study on Faculties and Hospital Workers in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-13, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xiuyu Chen & Longjun Jing & Huilin Wang & Jingyu Yang, 2022. "How Medical Staff Alleviates Job Burnout through Sports Involvement: The Mediating Roles of Health Anxiety and Self-Efficacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-12, September.
    2. Edlaine Faria de Moura Villela & Izadora Rodrigues da Cunha & Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo & Michael Obimpeh & Robert Colebunders & Stijn Van Hees, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 on Healthcare Workers in Brazil between August and November 2020: A Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-12, June.
    3. Nashit Chowdhury & Ankit Kainth & Atobrhan Godlu & Honey Abigail Farinas & Saif Sikdar & Tanvir C. Turin, 2022. "Mental Health and Well-Being Needs among Non-Health Essential Workers during Recent Epidemics and Pandemics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-30, May.
    4. Nicola Magnavita & Paolo Maurizio Soave & Massimo Antonelli, 2021. "Prolonged Stress Causes Depression in Frontline Workers Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study in a COVID-19 Hub-Hospital in Central Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-13, July.
    5. Natalia Tsybuliak & Uliana Kolomiiets & Anastasiia Popova & Hanna Lopatina & Yuriy Petrushenko & Yana Suchikova, 2025. "Progressive intensification of burnout among academic staff during the war," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Byung-Jik Kim & Julak Lee, 2024. "The mental health implications of artificial intelligence adoption: the crucial role of self-efficacy," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    7. Diego De Leo & Maria Maddalena Martucci & Antonello Grossi & Francesca Siviero & Silvia Vicentini & Carolina Romascu & Arianna Mercurio & Martina Battaglia & Noemi Tribbia, 2021. "Caring for Caregivers: Italian Health Care Workers’ Needs during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-13, October.
    8. Melissa McDiarmid & Marian Condon & Joanna Gaitens, 2021. "The Healthcare Sector Employer’s Duty of Care: Implications for Worker Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-12, June.
    9. Austin Gara, 2025. "Advanced Technology and Agent Burnout in Some Old Call Centers in Harare, Zimbabwe," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(9), pages 6323-6333, September.
    10. Reparata Rosa Di Prinzio & Giorgia Bondanini & Federica De Falco & Maria Rosaria Vinci & Vincenzo Camisa & Annapaola Santoro & Marcello De Santis & Massimiliano Raponi & Guendalina Dalmasso & Salvator, 2022. "The Management of Workplace Violence against Healthcare Workers: A Multidisciplinary Team for Total Worker Health ® Approach in a Hospital," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-10, December.
    11. Mario J. Valladares-Garrido & Luis Eduardo Zapata-Castro & Cinthia Karina Picón-Reategui & Ana Paula Mesta-Pintado & Ronald Alberto Picón-Reategui & Mariana Huaman-Garcia & César Johan Pereira-Victori, 2022. "Association between Working Time and Burnout Syndrome in Peruvian Military during the Second Epidemic Wave of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-14, October.
    12. Laura Dal Corso & Alessandro De Carlo & Francesca Carluccio & Daiana Colledani & Alessandra Falco, 2020. "Employee burnout and positive dimensions of well-being: A latent workplace spirituality profile analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-17, November.
    13. Maria Rosaria Gualano & Tiziana Sinigaglia & Giuseppina Lo Moro & Stefano Rousset & Agnese Cremona & Fabrizio Bert & Roberta Siliquini, 2021. "The Burden of Burnout among Healthcare Professionals of Intensive Care Units and Emergency Departments during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-17, August.
    14. Nicola Magnavita & Luca Mele & Igor Meraglia & Marco Merella & Maria Eugenia Vacca & Anna Cerrina & Maddalena Gabriele & Marcella Labella & Maria Teresa Soro & Simona Ursino & Carmela Matera, 2022. "The Impact of Workplace Violence on Headache and Sleep Problems in Nurses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-12, October.
    15. Maria H Kim & Alick C Mazenga & Xiaoying Yu & Katie Simon & Phoebe Nyasulu & Peter N Kazembe & Thokozani Kalua & Elaine Abrams & Saeed Ahmed, 2019. "Factors associated with burnout amongst healthcare workers providing HIV care in Malawi," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-14, September.
    16. Yasumasa Otsuka & Yukiko Sagisaka & Junko Nakamura & Keiko Hara & Masaki Okada & Yuko Takeuchi & Mizuki Tsuchiya & Yutaka Monden, 2023. "Happiness Detected by the Emotion Cognition System Is Associated with Burnout in an Information Technology Products and Services Trading Company," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-10, January.
    17. Ferdinando Toscano & Francesco Tommasi & Davide Giusino, 2022. "Burnout in Intensive Care Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review on Its Prevalence and Risk and Protective Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-16, October.
    18. Elizabeth Keller & Meghan Widestrom & Jory Gould & Runcheng Fang & Kermit G. Davis & Gordon Lee Gillespie, 2022. "Examining the Impact of Stressors during COVID-19 on Emergency Department Healthcare Workers: An International Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-15, March.
    19. Nicola Magnavita & Paolo Maurizio Soave & Massimo Antonelli, 2021. "A One-Year Prospective Study of Work-Related Mental Health in the Intensivists of a COVID-19 Hub Hospital," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-12, September.
    20. Tim Robbins & Ioannis Kyrou & Cain Clark & Kavi Sharma & Steven Laird & Lisa Berry & Nina Morgan & Kiran Patel & Sailesh Sankar & Harpal Randeva, 2021. "Healthcare Staff Perceptions Following Inoculation with the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-11, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:69:y:2023:i:4:p:1033-1042. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.