The reliability of the Study burnout inventory among Medical students

Abstract Background The burnout syndrome is increasingly recognized as the factor compromising the mental health of health-care workers. The demands of higher education were reported to influence the development of burnout syndrome among students. Medical students are a significant population as both future health care workers and students with high academic demands. The burnout among medical students has been studied using different questionnaires. The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric characteristics of the Study Burnout inventory for the assessment of burnout among medical students. Methods The cross-sectional study was conducted during December of 2019 among the fifth year Medical students at the five Universities in Serbia (University of Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, Nis, and Kosovska Mitrovica). The questionnaire used was the Study Burnout Inventory, nine-item scale, measuring three dimensions of burnout (exhaustion from studying- EXH; cynicism toward the meaningfulness of studying-CYN; the sense of inadequacy as a student-INAD). Answers were given on a six-point Lickert scale. The assessment of psychometric characteristics of the questionnaire was done using the reliability analysis (Cronbach alpha-α) and test-retest reliability (intra-class coefficient-ICC). Sensitivity and specificity were assessed using the Receiver operation curves (ROC) compared to the total burnout assessed by the Copenhagen burnout inventory. Results A total of 493 students filled-in the questionnaire. The mean score was 28.95±8.87/54. The Cronbach alpha for the total scale was α = 0.839, for the EXH scale was α = 0.724, for the CYN scale was α = 0.767, and for the INAD scale was α = 0.431. The test-retest reliability was ICC=0.750. The total area under the curve was 0.756 (95% CI: 0.711-0.800). Conclusions The Study Burnout Inventory has good reliability and can be used for rapid assessment of burnout among Medical students, as this scale is short and convenient for the participants. Key messages The Study burnout inventory has a good reliability as a total scale. This short scale is convenient for the participants and can be used for assessment of burnout.