title: Age as a Risk Factor for Burnout Syndrome in Nursing Professionals: A Meta-Analytic Study.
abstract: Although past research has highlighted the possibility of a direct relationship between the age of nursing professionals and burnout syndrome, results have been far from conclusive. The aim of this study was to conduct a wider analysis of the influence of age on the three dimensions of burnout syndrome (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) in nurses. We performed a meta-analysis of 51 publications extracted from health sciences and psychology databases that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. There were 47 reports of information on emotional exhaustion in 50 samples, 39 reports on depersonalization for 42 samples, and 31 reports on personal accomplishment in 34 samples. The mean effect sizes indicated that younger age was a significant factor in the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization of nurses, although it was somewhat less influential in the dimension of personal accomplishment. Because of heterogeneity in the effect sizes, moderating variables that might explain the association between age and burnout were also analyzed. Gender, marital status, and study characteristics moderated the relationship between age and burnout and may be crucial for the identification of high-risk groups. More research is needed on other variables for which there were only a small number of studies. Identification of burnout risk factors will facilitate establishment of burnout prevention programs for nurses. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Nursing Lecturer, Department of Nursing (Departamento de Enfermería), University of Granada (Universidad de Granada), Campus Universitario de Ceuta, C/Cortadura del Valle s/n, 51001, Ceuta, España.
authors.forename: José L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gómez-Urquiza
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.affiliation: Brain, Mind and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Emilia I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: De la Fuente
authors.affiliation: Nursing Lecturer, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernández-Castillo
authors.affiliation: Nursing Lecturer, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Guillermo A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Cañadas-De la Fuente
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000523:psychology*; D003861:Depersonalization; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: meta-analysis; nursing; occupational health; professional burnout