Impact of Burnout on medical students in the preclinical phase: analysis of emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and academic efficacy

The Burnout Syndrome has emerged as a critical phenomenon in the field of mental health, particularly among medical students, who face intense emotional and cognitive demands. Our objective was to investigate burnout levels among first- to third-year medical students. The study had a cross-sectional design, evaluating 116 students using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS) administered online. The dimensions of Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Cynicism (CY), and Academic Efficacy (AE) were analyzed, and the study was approved by an Ethics Committee (CEP). We observed that EE was the most impacted dimension, with an overall mean of 3.48±0.92, followed by CY (2.76±0.89) and AE (3.11±0.76). In the sex-based analyses, women presented significantly higher scores in EE (3.72±0.88 vs. 3.18±0.89; p< 0.001) and CY (2.94±0.83 vs. 2.52±0.91; p= 0.012). Analysis by academic year revealed a progressive increase in the means of EE (1st year: 3.21±0.87; 2nd year: 3.45±0.91; 3rd year: 3.78±0.89; p< 0.01) and CY (1st year: 2.45±0.81; 2nd year: 2.71±0.85; 3rd year: 3.12±0.83; p< 0.01). Moderate correlations were found between EE and CY (r = 0.48; p < 0.001) and between EE and AE (r = -0.62; p< 0.001). Risk categorization indicated that 56.9% of students were at high risk for EE, 48.3% for CY, and 47.4% for AE. We conclude that burnout is prevalent in the early years of the course, with greater vulnerability among women and a progressive increase over the academic years. Institutional policies are urgently needed to mitigate these effects.