The Abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory Can Overestimate Burnout: A Study of Anesthesiology Residents

The Maslach Burnout Inventory for healthcare professionals (MBI-HSS) and its abbreviated version (aMBI), are the most common tools to detect burnout in clinicians. A wide range in burnout prevalence is reported in anesthesiology, so this study aimed to ascertain which of these two tools most accurately detected burnout in our anesthesiology residents. The MBI-HSS and aMBI were distributed amongst 86 residents across three hospitals, with a total of 58 residents completing the survey (67.4% response rate; 17 male and 41 female). Maslach-recommended cut-offs for the MBI-HSS and the aMBI with standard cut-offs were used to estimate burnout prevalence, and actual prevalence was established clinically by a thorough review of multiple data sources. Burnout proportions reported by the MBI-HSS and aMBI were found to be significantly different; 22.4% vs. 62.1% respectively ( < 0.0001). Compared to the actual prevalence of burnout in our cohort, the MBI-HSS detected burnout most accurately; area under receiver operating characteristic of 0.99 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.92-1.0). Although there was a good correlation between the MBI-HSS and aMBI subscale scores, the positive predictive value of the aMBI was poor; 33.3% (95% CI:27.5-39.8%), therefore caution and clinical correlation are advised when using the aMBI tool because of the high rates of false-positives.