EFFECT OF SOCIAL SUPPORT ON BURNOUT IN MEDICAL STUDENTS

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the frequency of burnout in medical students of Peshawar and correlate the impact of social support on it.

Methodology: The study was conducted by using cross-sectional research design that included students of medical colleges of Peshawar, from January to March 2017. Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) and Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) were used to measure burnout and social support along with recording demographic information. Analysis was done using SPSS v.20. To find out gender and year-wise differences, independent sample t-test was used. For finding relationship between burnout and social support, Pearson correlation was used.

Results: The mean age of the sample (n=373) was 20.7 ±1.3 years. There were 253 (67.8%) female students and clinical year students were 188 (50.4%). According to the responses of OLBI, 228 (61.1%) students were having burnout while 153 (41%) students did not have appropriate social support, based on SSRC. There was no significant gender differences in the overall mean scores of OLBI and SSRS; while pre-clinical year students received more social support than clinical year students (p=.013). The Pearson correlation showed negative but non-significant correlation between burnout and social support (r= -.065, p= .212).

Conclusion: Burnout was reported in two third of the students while majority of students showed high level of social support. However, no significant correlation was observed in both the scales.