Algunas razones para considerar los riesgos psicosociales en el trabajo y sus consecuencias en la salud pública Translated title: Some Reasons to Consider Psicosocial Risks in the Work and its Consequences on Public Health

Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue, and cognitive weariness, resulting from prolonged exposure to work-related stress. The authors review the accumulated evidence suggesting that burnout and the related concept of vital exhaustion are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular-related events. The authors present evidence supporting several potential mechanisms linking burnout with ill health, including the metabolic syndrome, dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis along with sympathetic nervous system activation, sleep disturbances, systemic inflammation, impaired immunity functions, blood coagulation and fibrinolysis, and poor health behaviors. The association of burnout and vital exhaustion with these disease mediators suggests that their impact on health may be more extensive than currently indicated. Copyright 2006 APA, all rights reserved.

The association between burnout and physical diseases has been studied very little. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between burnout and physical illness in a representative nationwide population health study. As a part of the "Health 2000 Study" in Finland, 3368 employees aged 30-64 years were studied. Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey. Physical diseases were diagnosed in a comprehensive health examination by research physicians. Physical illness was more common among subjects with burnout than others (64% vs. 54%, P<.0001), and the prevalence of diseases increased with the severity of burnout (P<.0001). Burnout was an important correlate of cardiovascular diseases among men (OR=1.35; 95% CI, 1.13-1.61) and musculoskeletal disorders among women (OR=1.22, 95% CI, 1.07-1.38) when adjusted for age, marital status, education, socioeconomic status, physical strenuousness of work, smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption, body mass index, and depressive symptoms. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and cardiovascular diseases increased with the severity of all three dimensions of burnout, that is, exhaustion (P<.0001 and P<.001, respectively), cynicism (P=.0001 and P<.001, respectively), and lack of professional efficacy (P<.01 and P<.0001, respectively). Burnout is associated with musculoskeletal diseases among women and with cardiovascular diseases among men. These associations are not explained by sociodemographic factors, health behavior, or depression. Physical illnesses are associated with all three dimensions of burnout and not only with the exhaustion dimension. In the future, the causal relationships between burnout and physical diseases need to be investigated in prospective studies.

Fundamento: El término Burnout se refiere a una situación que es cada vez más frecuente entre los profesionales que prestan sus servicios a través de una relación directa y mantenida con las personas, entre los que se encuentran todos los profesionales sanitarios. El objetivo de nuestro estudio ha sido determinar la prevalencia del síndrome de Burnout y de sus tres componentes (cansancio emocional, despersonalización y falta de realización personal) entre los profesionales del área de enfermería del Hospital Clínico Universitario San Carlos de Madrid y su relación con determinados factores sociodemográficos, laborales e institucionales. Métodos: Se realizó un estudio tranversal entre los profesionales adscritos al área de enfermería del mencionado hospital. Las variables implicadas se recogieron mediante un cuestionario de elaboración propia. En cuanto al síndrome de Burnout se midió mediante el Maslach Burnout Inventory, en su versión validada en español. Resultados: El personal de enfermería está más despersonalizado (p=0,004) y menos realizado (p=0,036) que el grupo de auxiliares/técnicos. Cuando se analizaron los resultados de las 4 escalas por servicios comprobamos que el agotamiento es superior en los trabajadores de oncología y urgencias (p=0,001), la despersonalización en urgencias (p=0,007), y el Burnout es de nuevo más alto en las áreas de oncología y urgencias (p=0,000). Los profesionales que respondían que su labor asistencial era poco reconocida obtenían las peores puntuaciones en el Burnout y sus tres dimensiones (p =0,000). A menor grado de satisfacción laboral más altas son las puntuaciones en las 4 escalas (p=0,000). Conclusiones: Podemos concluir que en nuestro estudio el perfil del sujeto afecto de Burnout se corresponde con el de un profesional con experiencia laboral que sin embargo manifiesta un escaso grado de reconocimiento a su labor asistencial y un alto nivel de insatisfacción con la gestión de su centro de trabajo.