Burnout in Primary Care Pediatrics and the Additional Burden from the COVID-19 Pandemic

The term burnout describes a condition of work-related stress that leads individuals to exhaust their mental and physical resources.1 Burnout is a manifestation of negative psychological symptoms, including apathy, nervousness, restlessness, and demoralization, which may also be associated with physical problems, including headaches, sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal disorders.2 This condition can affect any worker performing any task, in any work environment. However, the most severe consequences of a stressful working condition are generally observed in the helping professions,3-5 including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, and staff members of private and public health organizations who are dedicated to others.4 Concern about the problem of burnout in health care workers goes back many years.6 However, the COVID-19 pandemic, which introduced new and unexpected stressors in almost all areas of life, has significantly increased the workload of health care workers in a short period of time. The level of physical and emotional stress has increased to the point that, because of the threat posed by this condition to the nation's health, several countries in Europe and the United States have declared the health-worker burnout crisis and the protection of their well-being a national priority.2,7-9 Several studies have highlighted the role of COVID-19 in causing increased burnout in various categories of health care professionals working in different settings and roles, and in other fields including finance, administration, academics, and the military.10-12 However, limited attention has been paid to the phenomenon of burnout in primary care pediatrics which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with negative effects on public health. Alarming recent data show that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the pressure on the workforce of general pediatricians and significantly worsened from 10%-30% to 40%-70% of the burnout levels generally observed prior to the pandemic.13,14 This article, compiled by the EPA-UNEPSA social pediatrics working group in collaboration with the European Confederation of Primary Care Pediatricians (ECPCP) and the Italian Federation of Primary Care Pediatricians (FIMP), briefly discusses the growing frequency of burnout in primary care and in primary care pediatrics, and debates how to reduce the risk of burnout and mitigate stress caused by this condition.