Burnout and Coping Methods among Emergency Medical Services Professionals

Figures & data

Table 1 Distribution of Emergency Medical Services Professionals by Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Work-Related Data (2019)

Sociodemographic Characteristics
Region	n	%
North	64	23.7
South	49	18.1
East	101	37.4
West	56	20.7
Job
Technician	198	73.3
Specialist	58	21.5
Physician	14	5.2
Nationality
Saudi	248	91.9
Non-Saudi	22	8.1
Marital status
Single	100	37.0
Married	167	61.9
Divorced	2	0.7
Widowed	1	0.4
Age, years
22–29	113	41.9
30–38	132	48.9
39–52	25	9.3
Work-related data
Years of experience
1–5	107	39.6
6 and more	163	60.4
Education
Diploma	168	62.2
Bachelor's degree in emergency medical services	88	32.6
Master's	6	2.2
Residency	8	3.0
Shift-work schedule
Alternating	270	100
Daily working hours
12	270	100

Table 2 Maslach Burnout Inventory Scale Among Emergency Medical Services Professionals (2019)

	n	%
Depersonalization
High	108	40.0
Moderate	80	29.6
Low	82	30.4
Emotional exhaustion
High	170	63.0
Moderate	70	25.9
Low	30	11.1
Personal accomplishment
High	58	21.5
Moderate	99	36.7
Low	113	41.9

Table 3 Coping Strategies Used by Emergency Medical Services Professionals (2019)

	n	%
CMC1: Black humor	114	42.2
CMC2: Talking with colleagues (other volunteers)	236	87.4
CMC3: Looking forward to being off duty	223	82.6
CMC4: Keeping thoughts/feelings to oneself	166	61.5
CMC5: Thinking about own family	208	77.0
CMC6: Thinking about outside interests	167	61.85
CMC7: Thinking about positive benefits of work	219	81.1
CMC8: Avoiding thinking about what you are doing	99	36.67

Abbreviation: CMC, Coping Methods Checklist.

Table 4 Bivariate Analysis of Emotional Exhaustion and Sociodemographic Characteristics, Work-Related Data, and Coping Methods (2019)

	n	Mean ± SD	P-value
Nationality
Saudi	348	31.35±11.13	0.008
Non-Saudi	22	24.91±7.70
Years of operational experience
1–5	107	29.88±11.61	0.299
6 and more	161	31.31±10.60
Marital status
Not married	103	29.17±11.34	0.054
Married	167	31.84±10.72
CMC1: Black humor
Unhelpful	79	32.11±10.96	0.183
Helpful	114	30.02±10.56
CMC2: Talking with colleagues (other volunteers)
Unhelpful	18	33.28±11.31	0.303
Helpful	236	30.47±11.1
CMC3: Looking forward to being off duty
Unhelpful	29	31.62±9.88	0.814
Helpful	223	31.11±11.08
CMC4: Keeping thoughts/feelings to oneself
Unhelpful	68	30.50±10.55	0.588
Helpful	166	31.34±10.89
CMC5: Thinking about own family
Unhelpful	29	33.34±10.78	0.243
Helpful	208	30.78±11.11
CMC6: Thinking about outside interests
Unhelpful	65	30.48±10.08	0.424
Helpful	167	31.72±10.79
CMC7: Thinking about positive benefits of work
Unhelpful	35	37.34±11.28	0
Helpful	219	29.64±10.6
CMC8: Avoiding thinking about what you are doing
Unhelpful	83	29.33±10.42	0.094
Helpful	99	31.98±10.74

Abbreviation: CMC, Coping Methods Checklist.

Table 5 Bivariate Analysis of Depersonalization and Sociodemographic Characteristics, Work-Related Data, and Coping Methods (2019)

	n	Mean ± SD	P-value
Nationality
Saudi	248	11.51±7.12	0.005
Non-Saudi	22	7.00 ±5.59
Years of operational experience
1–5	107	10.75±7.68	0.513
6 and more	161	11.34 ±6.84
Marital status
Not married	103	10.82±7.44	0.555
Married	167	11.35±7.03
CMC1: Black humor
Unhelpful	79	10.78±6.71	0.242
Helpful	114	12.01±7.40
CMC2: Talking with colleagues (other volunteers)
Unhelpful	18	13.94±6.94	0.065
Helpful	236	10.70±7.15
CMC3: Looking forward to being off duty
Unhelpful	29	11.03±6.03	0.920
Helpful	223	11.17±7.22
CMC4: Keeping thoughts/feelings to oneself
Unhelpful	68	11.71±6.99	0.470
Helpful	166	10.97±7.09
CMC5: Thinking about own family
Unhelpful	29	13.90±8.57	0.177
Helpful	208	10.72±6.84
CMC6: Thinking about outside interests
Unhelpful	65	11.35±6.71	0.791
Helpful	167	11.62±7.00
CMC7: Thinking about positive benefits of work
Unhelpful	35	16.34±5.96	0
Helpful	219	10.19±6.93
CMC8: Avoiding thinking about what you are doing
Unhelpful	83	10.20±7.01	0.054
Helpful	99	12.21±6.89

Abbreviation: Coping Methods Checklist.

Table 6 Bivariate Analysis of Personal Achievement and Sociodemographic Characteristics, Work-Related Data and Coping Methods (2019)

	n	Mean ±SD	P-value
Nationality
Saudi	248	36.20±7.80	0.177
Non-Saudi	22	35.50±5.45
Years of operational experience
1–5 years	107	36.71±8.54	0.634
6 years and more	161	36.25±7.02
Marital status
Not married	103	36.17±8.80	0.723
Married	167	36.52±6.87
CMC1: Black humor
Unhelpful	79	35.76±8.02	0.224
Helpful	114	37.07±7.38
CMC2: Talking with colleagues (other volunteers)
Unhelpful	18	31.61±8.63	0.005
Helpful	236	36.86±7.51
CMC3: Looking forward to being off duty
Unhelpful	29	36.24±7.87	0.991
Helpful	223	36.22±7.72
CMC4: Keeping thoughts/feelings to oneself
Unhelpful	68	36.43±7.11	0.885
Helpful	166	36.59±8.11
CMC5: Thinking about own family
Unhelpful	29	36.03±5.93	0.800
Helpful	208	36.42±7.85
CMC6: Thinking about outside interests
Unhelpful	65	35.98±7.32	0.787
Helpful	167	36.29±7.80
CMC7: Thinking about positive benefits of work
Unhelpful	35	32.00±6.57	0
Helpful	219	37.50±7.34
CMC8: Avoiding thinking about what you are doing
Unhelpful	83	35.89±8.05	0.500
Helpful	99	36.66±7.21

Abbreviation: CMC, Coping Methods Checklist.

Table 7 Multiple Linear Regression of Predictors of Emotional Exhaustion Among Emergency Medical Services Professionals in Saudi Arabia (2019)

	Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients	t	P
	β	SE	β
Constant	28.825	3.501		8.233	0
CMC7*	−3.596	1.203	−0.178	−2.991-	0.003
CMC8**	0.442	0.787	0.033	0.561	0.575
Saudi	−6.620	2.412	−0.165	2.744	0.006
Married	2.951	1.362	0.130	2.166	0.031

Notes: R=0.278, adjusted R²=0.063, F_{4, 264}=5.533; P=0. *Thinking about positive benefits of work; avoiding thinking about what you are doing.

Table 8 Multiple Linear Regression of Predictors of Depersonalization Among Emergency Medical Services Professionals in Saudi Arabia (2019)

	Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients	t	P
	β	SE	β
Constant	21.951	2.484		8.836	0
CMC2*	−1.664	0.857	−0.118	−1.941	0.053
CMC7**	−2.449	0.804	−0.185	−3.046	0.003
CMC8***	0.763	0.510	0.088	1.497	0.135
Saudi	−3.935	1.545	−0.150	−2.546	0.011

Notes: R=0.307, adjusted R²=0.080, F_{4, 263}=6.824; P0. *Talking with colleagues (other volunteers); **thinking about positive benefits of work; ***avoiding thinking about what you are doing.

Table 9 Multiple Linear Regression of Predictors of Personal Achievement Among Emergency Medical Services Professionals in Saudi Arabia (2019)

	Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients	t	P
	β	SE	β
Constant	28.151	1.989		14.151	0
CMC2*	0.864	0.910	0.058	0.950	0.343
CMC7**	3.821	0.851	0.272	4.487	0

Notes: R=0.292, adjusted R²=0.078, F_{2, 265}=12. 331; P=0. *Talking with colleagues (other volunteers); *thinking about positive benefits of work.