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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1477812
This article is part of the Research Topic Mental Health of Vulnerable Groups: Predictors, Mechanisms, and Interventions View all 9 articles

The prevalence of burnout and coping strategies among Palestinian health professionals: A cross sectional study

Provisionally accepted
Muna Ahmead Muna Ahmead 1*Nuha El Sharif Nuha El Sharif 1Abdallah Alwawi Abdallah Alwawi 2Asma Hemeid Asma Hemeid 3Motasem Ziqan Motasem Ziqan 1
  • 1 Faculty of Public Health, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine
  • 2 Faculty of Health Sciences, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine
  • 3 Faculty of Medicine, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    During times of conflict, healthcare personnel face a heightened vulnerability to experiencing psychological problems such as burnout. The impact of conflict or wars on mental health professionals in Palestine and their strategies for managing these problems are currently not recognized. This study sought to assess the prevalence of burnout symptoms and coping strategies among healthcare workers in Palestine, in the context of the ongoing conflict and political violence.The study utilized a cross-sectional research design. Self-reported questionnaires, including the shortened version (9 items) of The Maslach Burnout Questionnaire and Brief COPE scales, were used to gather data. The relationship between the research variables and burn symptoms was investigated using Chi-squared test, student's t-, Mann-Whitne y, and Analysis of variance and multi-regression.A total of 713 participants were recruited. The prevalence rates were as follows: burnout -(72.9%), emotional exhaustion (44.2%), depersonalization (9.8%), and low personal accomplishment (72.2%). The multivariate analysis found that those who worked more than 16 hours per day and those who had one to fifteen years of job experience were more likely to had emotional exhaustion. Active coping, substance use, informational support, and emotional support all reduced the likelihood of burnout while behavioral disengagement and self-blame increased the possibility of experiencing burnout. Finally, substance use decreased emotional exhaustion, increased depersonalization and enhanced personal accomplishment.The findings revealed a high prevalence of burnout among health professionals during wartime and political violence. As a result, health professionals are vulnerable to mental problems during political violence and they need immediate assistance in enhancing their mental wellbeing through psychological support, and comprehensive training in stress management

    Keywords: Professional burnout, coping strategies, Nurses, health professionals, Palestine

    Received: 08 Aug 2024; Accepted: 25 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ahmead, El Sharif, Alwawi, Hemeid and Ziqan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Muna Ahmead, Faculty of Public Health, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine

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