Burnout of the public transportation vehicle drivers: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Objective: Burnout syndrome is a psychological term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest due to the workload especially for occupations that need close interaction with crowds. Bus drivers who work in heavy traffic and face too many people, are probably more prone to burnout.This study aims to investigate the presence of burnout syndrome in bus drivers working in Istanbul.

Methods: This is a cross sectional study, performed by using Maslach Inventory in bus drivers working in the Anatolian side of Istanbul. The questionnaires were distributed equally to dri-vers working on six main lines at the Anatolian central garage of the municipality (IETT). According to the inventory, burnout syndrome is defined in three areas, the scores for the subgroups were emotional exhaustion, desensitization and low personal accomplishment.

Results: A total of 396 bus drivers filled in the questionnaire. All of the drivers were male. Median age was 40.0 (27-59), 96.6% were married, and all had social insurance. Median working course was 10.0 (1-32) year; median daily working hour period were 8.0 (8-12) hours; 53.1% stated they could find time for resting, 99.5% had one day off in a week. The main problem areas were health, economy and social security. Emotional burnout median was 16 (0-36); desensitization median was 7 (0-20); low personal accomplishment median was 20 (0-32).

Conclusion: This study showed that burnout syndrome was not frequent among bus drivers working in Istanbul. This may be due to the presence of social security and a regular income. Low work related stress based on working in a secure and safe environment might also contribute to the low number of burnout cases.