Background: Burnout syndrome (BOS) has been associated with serious consequences on the healthcare providers as well as the healthcare system. ENT medical staff experience stressful work circumstances as this specialty is sometimes demanding. Aim: This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to identify and assess the burden of BOS among ENT medical staff in Saudi Arabia. Methods: The study was conducted following the guidelines and recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020. Studies were retrieved by searching the PubMed, EBSCO, Scopus, Web of Science through Clarivate and Google Scholar using keywords and Mesh terms related to BOS and ENT medical staff. Rayyan – Intelligent Systematic Reviews was used for managing citations and duplicate removal. We used Review Manager 5.4 for quantitative data synthesis. Results: Primary search yielded 101 articles, of which only 3 were included in the quantitative meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of high emotional exhaustion was 48.7% (95% CI: 34.9%-62.5%), whereas the pooled prevalence of high depersonalization was 44.5% (95% CI: 29.7%-59.2%) and low personal accomplishments was 48% (95% CI: 40.5%-55.6%). The pooled prevalence of the overall BOS was 47.8% (95% CI: -11.4%-106.9%). There was significant heterogeneity (I2 > 50%) in all of the pooled analyses. Conclusion: The aim of this study was to assess burnout syndrome among ENT physicians. The study found that nearly half of ENT residents in Saudi Arabia are burnt out. We recommend implementing measures to reduce and prevent burnout among ENT physicians in Saudi Arabia.
Keywords: Burnout syndrome; ENT medical staff; meta-analysis