BURNOUT SYNDROME PERUVIAN STUDIES IN MEDICAL STUDENTS AND PHYSICIANS

Abstract

Background: Burnout syndrome in medical students and medical staff has been reported in Peru as a serious and frequent entity, which can have grievous personal and professional consequences. Although there are many studies carried out in other countries, the information on burnout syndrome in students of medicine and Peruvian doctors is still insufficient.
Objective: To review and make a synthesis of published works on burnout syndrome in Peruvian students of medicine, medical residents and physicians during the last five years.
Methodology: A literature search was performed using various databases (PubMed, SCOPUS, Scielo) regarding original articles on burnout in medical professional population and students of medicine published from 2015 to 2020. Results are presented in narrative form.
Results: The prevalence of burnout syndrome in Peru has been reported in the range of 2.44–57.6% in students of medicine; 9.65–51.4% in medical residents; and 2.67–80% in physicians.
Conclusions: Burnout syndrome in Peru has been reported with prevalence rates of a broad range, varying a lot. However, in the reviewed studies, methodological shortcomings were detected including little conceptual consensus among researchers by which criteria the presence of burnout should be identified, little consideration of the work environment and cultural factors in its analysis and a lack of longitudinal studies. All this hinders the global appreciation of the phenomenon and the use of the generated knowledge in proposing appropriate coping strategies.