[Study of the influence of labor and sociodemographic factors on the development of professional burnout syndrome in the area of specialized medicine of INSALUD in Avila]. / Estudio de la influencia de los factores laborales y sociodemográficos en el desarrollo del síndrom de agotamiento profesional en el área de medicina especializada del INSALUD de Avila.

BACKGROUND: The burnout syndrome is characterized by emotional exhaustion (basis of the decrease of self-esteem), depersonalization and decrease of the feeling of personal accomplishment, above all, in the field of professional achievements. It appears to be frequent in the helping professions and the human services workers, and in its origin labour factors seem to intervene. The authors intend to determine the degree of burnout among physicians and to assess the influence of labour and sociodemographic factors on the emotional state of physicians. METHODS: One hundred fifty-six physicians of the Avila Health Service Area participated. A general questionnaire and the Spanish version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory were used. The statistical analysis includes the analysis of variance, the Pearson's correlation coefficient and the Student's t test. RESULTS: The profile of the studies professional is a 37 year old male, married, who has been working for 13 years in his profession and who has had his current job for eight with a professional category of consultant. In general, they are not satisfied with their work, they do not value highly the personal policy of their managers and they hardly identify themselves with the enterprise, if at all. These negative labour aspects were correlated with the burnout syndrome, whose values indicated high levels of professional exhaustion. CONCLUSIONS: Improvements in the work conditions are suggested and in its organization such as the physicians' participations in management, definition of positions and assessment of individual situations.

[The burn-out syndrome in physicians of the public health system of a health area]. / El síndrome de burn-out en los médicos del Sistema Sanitario Público de un Area de Salud.

The syndrome of professional exhaustion (burn-out) and the influence of work conditions are studied among 273 physicians of the Public Health System, 143 specialists and 130 Primary Care physicians. All of them answered two questionnaires: the Maslach Burn-out Inventory and another questionnaire related to the job. The results show significantly higher levels of exhaustion in the specialists than their fellow-workers in Primary Care units. Both groups are also compared to the original American sample. The results are commented in the context of a possible influence of a Health Reform. The urgent necessity of managerial measures to stop and prevent the Syndrome is concluded.