An analytic cross-sectional study of the prevalence and factors associated with Burnout Syndrome among junior high school public teachers in Quezon City

ABSTRACT

Introduction@#Teaching is considered to be a high-risk occupation for developing burnout, a phenomenon where chronic workplace stress is unsuccessfully managed. Despite studies on burnout in high- and upper-middle income countries, there is limited evidence for lower-middle-income (LMIC) countries and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.@*Objective@#This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with burnout under worker’s health, working environment, and working culture among junior high school teachers.@*Methods@#Data were collected through a six-part, self-administered questionnaire that measured sociodemographics and teacher characteristics, musculoskeletal pain, comorbidities, job insecurity, workplace social support, and burnout from 16 public high schools in Quezon City. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess significant factors associated with burnout. @*Results@#Of the 171 JHS teachers in the study, the prevalence of burnout was 5.3%. Teachers who were more likely to have burnout were males, younger age, lower teaching positions, fewer working hours and teaching experience, blended work setup, with musculoskeletal pain and mental comorbidities, job insecurity, and low workplace social support. Bivariate analysis found that mental comorbidities and job insecurity were significant, however, these were not significant in the multivariate analysis. @*Conclusion@#This study presents alternative findings for the factors associated with burnout when contextualized in an LMIC setting. Despite not finding significance when adjusted for other variables, descriptive statistics have shown the characteristics of teachers who are more likely to have burnout. Efforts to detect, manage, and prevent burnout should take these into consideration to identify teacher with burnout.