Burnout and c-reactive protein levels: an integrative literature review

Abstract

Objective: To identify the scientific evidence available in the literature on the association between Burnout Syndrome (BS) and C-reactive protein levels. Methods: This is an integrative literature review of articles published in Portuguese, Spanish and English, with no date limit, with different study designs, available electronically in the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (PubMed), Scopus, Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (LILACS), Science Direct, and Springer Link databases. The selected articles were analyzed according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Results: Seven articles were analyzed. In most studies, there was a positive association between Burnout and high c-reactive protein levels, despite the general results being contradictory. Most articles that met the selection criteria were in English and indexed in the CINAHL database. The European continent concentrated most of studies. There was a predominance of cross-sectional study design. Conclusion: Despite the positive association between Burnout and high c-reactive protein levels, the results of this review suggest that new, more robust studies be carried out in an attempt to explain the relationship between BS and CRP.