Burnout syndrome among Italian physiotherapists: a cross-sectional study

Background: Burnout syndrome is a common psychological disorder among helping professionals. Objectives: The aims of this study were to investigate the frequency and severity of burnout amongst a group of Italian physical therapists, to measure the association between burnout and selected individual and social factors concerning the therapists and, based on the findings, to suggest some preventative measures. Methods: A total of 118 Italian physical therapists participated in the study. The Italian version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Service Survey was employed to analyse the presence and the characteristics of burnout syndrome in the sample. Results: 45.8% of the physiotherapists were affected by burnout or at a high risk of developing the syndrome. Male and younger physical therapists were more predisposed to developing elevated levels of depersonalisation, compared to female and more experienced colleagues, respectively. Physiotherapists who treated neurological patients perceived they were less accomplished than those who treated orthopaedic patients. Conclusions: This study confirmed that Italian physical therapists are at a high risk of developing burnout syndrome; their psychological situation proves to be one of the worst, compared to colleagues from other countries. Primary predisposing factors for the syndrome included being young, male and specialising in neurological disabilities.