[Prevalence of burnout syndrome in nurses in 2 Mexican hospitals].
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of burnout syndrome in nursing staff in 2 different second level hospitals in the city of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted in all nursing staff (n = 698) in 2 second level hospitals (the Gynecology, Pediatrics and Family Medicine Hospital No. 31 and the General Specialist Hospital No. 30 in Mexicali). A stratified random sample was obtained from the 698 nurses, with a sample size of 184 nurses from each hospital. The Maslach Burn-out Inventory and a general questionnaire on demographic factors were used. Statistical analysis consisted of descriptive statistics and analysis of proportions using the chi-squared test.


RESULTS
A total of 368 nurses were studied, of whom 345 (93.75%) were women. The mean age was 41.21 SD (standard deviation) = 6.59 years. The mean length of service was 15.87 (SD = 6.12) years. In both hospitals, the prevalence of burnout syndrome was 6.79% (25).


CONCLUSIONS
Previous publications on burn-out have included studies performed in Mexico and in nurses in the emergency department of a tertiary hospital in Barcelona, as well as in other health care professionals. In comparison with these studies, the prevalence of burn-out observed in the present study was significantly lower.
Palmer-Morales
Yusvisaret
Y
Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Hospital de Gineco-Pediatría con Medicina Familiar n.o31, Mexicali, BC. México. yusvip@yahoo.com
Prince-Vélez
Roberto
R
Searcy-Bernal
Roberto
R
Compean-Saucedo
Bertha
B
D000328:Adult; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D009729:Nursing; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D015995:Prevalence; D013577:Syndrome