Depression and Burnout among Health Extension Workers in Rural Ethiopia: A Cross-sectional Study
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Date
2021-04
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Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Background: Depression and burnout are common among healthcare workers (HCWs) and
negatively impact their wellbeing as well as the quality of the service they provide. To date the
burden of depression and burnout among health extension workers (HEWs) in Ethiopia has not
been explored well. Results regarding the relationship between depression and burnout are also
inconclusive.
Objective: To investigate the prevalence of depression and burnout and their relationship among
HEWs working in rural Ethiopia.
Methods: We used a cross-sectional study design to collect data from 584 HEWs working in
rural Ethiopia. A multi-stage cluster random sampling technique was used to recruit HEWs from
rural areas of the nine regions of Ethiopia. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and
burnout self-test were used to screen CHWs for depression and burnout, respectively.
Descriptive summaries were used to estimate the magnitude of depression and burnout of the
study participants and logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between
depression and burnout and other demographic characteristics.
Result: The mean age of HEWs was 27.1 years (SE= 0.27) and over half of them (56.8%)
reported satisfaction with their job. The prevalence of major depression using PHQ-9 score at a
10 point cut-off was 16.5% (95% CI: 12.9%, 18.9%), whilst burnout risk was 39.8% (95% CI:
32.64, 47.49). The odds of having depression among HEWs with burnout risk is about twelve
times compared to HEWs without burnout risk [AOR: 11.88; 95% CI (5.27, 26.80); P< 0.001)].
Conclusion: Our findings show that depression and burnout prevalence is high among HEWs in
Ethiopia. They also indicate that burnout is a significant predictor of depression. Strategies
should be in place to ensure HEWs can benefit from the integration of mental health services into
primary health care units in Ethiopia. Further studies should explore the impact of depression
and burnout on performance and the quality of the service among HEWs
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Keywords
Depression ,burnout,health workers