Self-Rated Health and Burnout Dimensions Among Prehospital Emergency Medical Services Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study examined associations between self-rated health (SRH) and burnout dimensions among prehospital emergency physicians. This cross-sectional study included a convenience sample of 151 physicians from one emergency medical service in Belgrade, Serbia. Burnout was assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Human Services Survey and SRH using a single SF-36 general-health item. Ordinal models examined three ordered SRH categories (excellent/very good, good, and fair/poor), with burnout dimensions entered separately and jointly, adjusting for age, sex, professional qualification, and chronic disease. Binary sensitivity analyses compared fair/poor with excellent/very good/good health. Higher emotional exhaustion was associated with less favourable SRH in the separate adjusted ordinal model (OR per 10-point increase: 1.31; 95% CI 1.04–1.64). After mutual adjustment for burnout dimensions, the estimate remained similar but was less precise (OR 1.30; 95% CI 0.96–1.75). Evidence was also inconclusive in the adjusted binary analysis. Depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment showed no clear adjusted associations with SRH. Unadjusted associations of shift work and daily working hours with SRH were inconclusive. Emotional exhaustion may be associated with physicians’ perceived health, although the evidence varied across models. The cross-sectional design precludes conclusions about direction or causality; longitudinal studies are needed.