Aspects of University Life and Burnout Syndrome

Aim: To estimate the prevalence of Burnout Syndrome in dental students, from a public university, and compare the mean scores obtainedin each dimension of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI-S), according to the sociodemographic variables of interest. A total of 235students participated in the study. Methods: The psychometric characteristics of OLBI-S were estimated. The comparison of Exhaustion andDisengagement mean scores was performed, using the Student’s t test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results: A total of 72.8% of theparticipants were women and the mean age was 21.0 ± 1.8 years. After the removal of three items, OLBI showed adequate factorial validityand reliability. Of the surveyed students, 61.7% had Burnout Syndrome, 22.1% Exhaustion and 4.7% Disengagement. A higher Disengagementmean score was observed for students who did not chose the Dentistry course as their first choice, and who consider teachers to beincompetent/reasonable. Those whose initial expectations were frustrated, with poor course performance, who already used medication dueto their study load, and who thought about quitting the course, had higher mean scores of both Exhaustion and Disengagement. Conclusion:There is a high prevalence of Burnout Syndrome, with a significant relation to sociodemographic variables.