Burnout syndrome and associated factors among university teaching staff in Cameroon: Effect of the practice of sport and physical activities and leisures

This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiology of burnout syndrome among university teaching staff in Cameroon; and to establish if the practice of physical activities and leisures could have preventive effect. A cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics, socio-professional conditions, Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educator Survey (MBI-ES) to evaluate burnout syndrome, and Ricci-Gagnon metrics to assess level of physical activities practice among grades of teaching staff, in the various faculties of the University of Douala, Cameroon. Three hundreds and three teaching staff members aged 43±7 years were included (69% males). The prevalence of burnout syndrome was 68%, distributed within the three dimensions as follows: emotional exhaustion (15.2%), depersonalization (32.1%) and loss of personal accomplishment (22.1%), with 57% low level, 38% moderate and 6% severe. Burnout affected respectively 55.4% lecturers, 38.3% senior lecturers and 6.3% professors. Burnout was significantly associated with poor working conditions (P=0.0001), unsatisfactory salary (P=0.0001), part time teaching in private university institutions (P=0.027), sensation of strenuous job (P=0.002), conflict with colleagues (P=0.028), sedentariness (P=0.007). Sport and physical activities showed significant protective effect against burnout (P=0.004), the same with leisures (P=0.016). The prevalence burnout syndrome is high among university teaching staff in Cameroon. The practice of sport and physical activities and leisures has a protective effect against burnout syndrome. La demande de services de qualité supérieure a augmenté avec la mondialisation en cours dans le monde entier. L’environnement socioéconomique est devenu plus compétitif et exigeant en termes de résultats et de performance. Ces exigences exposent les travailleurs à des vulnérabilités en termes de santé au travail, tels que le stress et le burnout encore connus comme syndrome d’épuisement professionnel. Certaines investigations ont rapporté que le burnout est maintenant largement répandu dans plusieurs secteurs ou corps professionnels comme les travailleurs sociaux, les conseillers, les enseignants, les infirmières, les laborantins, les orthophonistes, les ergothérapeutes, les médecins, les dentistes, les policiers et gardiens de prison, les hôtesses de l’air, et même les ménagères et les étudiants. Nous avons émis l’hypothèse que l’université de Douala, avec environ 6000