Depression and burnout among Hungarian health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: The coronavirus epidemic caught the world by surprise. The already overburdened and understaffed health sector faced new challenges that made the daily lives of health workers even more difficult. Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent of burnout and symptoms of depression in health workers, and their association with work in COVID care and other sociodemographic and workplace factors. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from 27 January 2022 to 14 February 2022 with a self-constructed questionnaire. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and Spearman correlations (p < 0.05). Results: Of the 10,285 Hungarian respondents who completed the questionnaire, 42.3% suffered from varying degrees of depression and 64.4% from burnout. These two psychological factors are significantly associated with marital status, sex, number of years in health care, levels of health care, and the length of time working in COVID care. A high degree of burnout and severe depression will result in a negative assessment of the COVID vaccine. The older the respondent, the lower the levels of depression and burnout. Conclusion: Working in COVID care has had a significant negative impact on the mental health of health workers. It is important to note that the Beck Depression Scale alone is not sufficient to diagnose depression.