Burnout among female physiotherapists working in Estonian healthcare: a cross-sectional survey

Introduction: Burnout is common in professionals working with people, with multifaceted impact across various life areas. Burnout among physiotherapists has a negative impact on patients, and service quality.Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe and evaluate burnout among female Estonian physiotherapists working in healthcare.Material and methods: This cross‐sectional web‐based survey study was conducted among 90 Estonian female physiotherapists in Spring-Summer 2021. The presence of burnout was assessed by a self-evaluated Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) questionnaire in personal, work-related, and patient-related dimensions.Results: A significant portion of participants reported the presence of burnout in the personal life dimension (53.3%), and in the work-related dimension (51.1%), to a less extent in the patient-related dimension (36.7%). The survey revealed that the presence of burnout in at least one dimension of CBI occurred in nearly 68% of physiotherapists, and every fourth of participants evaluated the presence of burnout in every three dimensions.Conclusions: Female physiotherapists perceive their healthcare roles as emotionally draining and physically demanding, leading to burnout across various dimensions. Alarmingly, many of them are already experiencing or nearing burnout. Therefore, it is crucial to pay attention to possibilities to reduce feelings of burnout among physiotherapists working in healthcare where their relative importance grows in time.