Determinants of burnout in Canadian health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant characteristics.

Variables	n (%)
Age (years)
≤25	40 (3.9)
26–40	419 (40.7)
41–60	513 (49.9)
>60	57 (5.5)
Sex
Female	938 (91.2)
Male	91 (8.8)
Marital status
Married/common law	692 (67.2)
Single	211 (20.5)
Separated/divorced/widowed	126 (12.2)
Education
Less than college/university	127 (12.3)
Completed college/university	902 (87.7)
Number of years as a healthcare worker
≤5 years	200 (19.4)
6–10 years	214 (20.8)
≥11 years	615 (59.8)
Direct contact with COVID-19 patients
Yes	608 (59.1)
No	421 (40.9)
Primary job function
Direct client/patient care	896 (87.1)
Administration	79 (6.9)
Outreach	13 (1.1)
Research	13 (1.1)
Other	49 (4.3)

Table 2. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations.

Measures	Mean (SD)	α	Skewness	Kurtosis	1	2	3	4
1. WBI	3.72 (2.27)	.67	−.42	−.28
2. Workplace support	3.18 (0.85)	.83	−.06	−.24	−.47
3. Organizational leadership	3.02 (1.04)	.91	−.07	−.72	−.35	.64
4. Supervisory leadership	3.06 (1.21)	.95	−.13	−1.01	−.26	.57	.75
5. EEQ	2.98 (0.72)	.93	−.10	−.03	−.36	.58	.61	.54

Note. All correlations are significant at p < .001. WBI = Well-Being Index. EEQ = Ethical Environment Questionnaire. WBI α does not include items 8 and 9, which are used to add or subtract one point from participants’ initial scores (see WBI scoring information).

Table 3. Scores for burnout and organizational variables in healthcare workers working or not working in contact with COVID-19 patients.

Variables	Total mean (SD)	COVID-19 contact mean (SD)	No COVID-19 contact mean (SD)	t(df)
WBI	3.72 (2.27)	4.04 (2.18)	3.27 (2.33)	−5.05(890)***
Workplace support	3.18 (0.85)	3.15 (0.82)	3.23 (0.88)	1.58(1143)
Organizational leadership	3.02 (1.04)	2.97 (1.04)	3.08 (1.05)	1.82(1137)
Supervisory leadership	3.06 (1.21)	3.03 (1.21)	3.10 (1.19)	1.06(1135)
EEQ	2.98 (0.72)	2.93 (0.70)	3.06 (0.73)	2.67(879)**

Note. WBI = Well-Being Index. EEQ = Ethical Environment Questionnaire. Total n = 1029; COVID-19 contact n = 608; no COVID-19 contact n = 421.

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

Table 4. Burnout regressed on sociodemographic and organizational variables.

Variables	β	95% CI	p value
Age (years)
≤25	−0.16	−0.62, 0.30	.499
26–40	0.03	−0.27, 0.33	.840
41–60	0.01	−0.26, 0.29	.918
>60 (ref)
Sex ^a	0.17	−0.05, 0.38	.124
Marital status
Single	0.07	−0.09, 0.23	.376
Separated/divorced/widowed	−0.02	−0.21, 0.17	.807
Married/common law (ref)
Number of years as a healthcare worker
≤5 years	0.20	0.01, 0.39	.038
6–10 years	0.05	−0.12, 0.22	.536
≥11 years (ref)
Direct contact with COVID-19 patients ^b	0.25	0.12, 0.37	<.001
Workplace support	−0.39	−0.48, −0.31	<.001
Organizational leadership	−0.11	−0.22, −0.01	.027
Supervisory leadership	0.09	0.00, 0.18	.049
EEQ	−0.09	−0.17, 0.00	.042

Note. β = unstandardized coefficient. CI = confidence interval.

EEQ = Ethical Environment Questionnaire.

^a 0 = male; 1 = female.

^b 0 = no; 1 = yes.

Table 5. Burnout regressed on direct contact with COVID-19 patients, organizational variables, and COVID-19 contact × organizational variable interactions.

Variables	β	95% CI	p value
Model 1
Direct contact with COVID-19 patients ^a	0.27	0.14, 0.39	<.001
Workplace support	−0.49	−0.58, −0.40	<.001
COVID-19 contact × workplace support	0.05	−0.07, 0.17	.399
F(11,789) = 24.45, R^2 = 0.24, p < .001
Model 2
Direct contact with COVID-19 patients ^a	0.27	0.13, 0.40	<.001
Organizational leadership	−0.35	−0.45, −0.25	<.001
COVID-19 contact × organizational leadership	0.00	−0.13, 0.14	.971
F(11,789) = 13.40, R^2 = 0.15, p < .001
Model 3
Direct contact with COVID-19 patients ^a	0.29	0.16, 0.43	<.001
Supervisory leadership	−0.26	−0.37, −0.16	<.001
COVID-19 contact × supervisory leadership	0.01	−0.13, 0.15	.879
F(11,789) = 8.64, R^2 = 0.10, p < .001
Model 4
Direct contact with COVID-19 patients ^a	0.25	0.12, 0.38	<.001
EEQ	−0.28	−0.38, −0.18	<.001
COVID-19 contact × EEQ	−0.09	−0.22, 0.04	.188
F(11,789) = 12.87, R^2 = 0.14, p < .001

Note. β = unstandardized coefficient. CI = confidence interval.

EEQ = Ethical Environment Questionnaire.

^a 0 = no; 1 = yes.

Data availability statement

Study data are not available on a repository to protect participant privacy. However, data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.