Burnout And Coping Skills Among Laboratory Personnel in Selected Facilities During COVID-19 Pandemic in Klang Valley

Maznieda Mahjom, Noor Syaqilah Shawaluddin, Lim Kuang Kuay, Masita Arip, Rohaida Ismail, Tuan Mohd Amin Tuan Lah, Rosmanajihah Mat Lazim, Mizanurfakhri Ghazali, Nadia Mohamad, Raheel Nazakat: Burnout And Coping Skills Among Laboratory Personnel in Selected Facilities During COVID-19 Pandemic in Klang Valley. published online at https://apcph.cphm.my, 2022, (Type: POSTER PRESENTATION; Organisation: Centre of Occupational Health Research, Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia; Allergy and Immunology Research Centre, Institute of Medical Research, National Institutes of Health; Environmental Health Research Centre, Institute of Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia).

Abstract

Introduction: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic which originated from Wuhan has infected more than 500 million humans worldwide as of 16th May 2022. This phenomenon is alarming as it forces the healthcare facilities to function at full capacity, thus increasing healthcare workers ' work burden particularly among laboratory personnel who worked with COVID-19 samples. Long working hours, lack of rest, personal matters and the risk in contracting the disease can affect their stress level, consequently it may lead to burnout which further compromises their mental health. As these presented a great challenge in the continuity of healthcare deliveries, it is important to assess mental health outcomes among them. This study aimed to determine the level of burnout and coping skills among the laboratory personnel in selected facilities in Klang Valley during COVID-19 pandemic.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study explored the psychological issues and level of coping skills among laboratory personnel in Klang Valley through quota sampling. The online survey (google form) was distributed from October 2021 until December 2021 by each liaison officer to three selected healthcare laboratories that were involved in COVID-19 related work. The questionnaire consists of four components which were demography, Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), stressor and coping mechanisms. Descriptive analysis was done using SPSS version 26.0 to describe the socio-demographic characteristic of the study population and chi-square test was conducted to analyse the association between the burnout status and the level of coping skills.
Result: A total of 404 laboratory personnel had responded to this survey in which 45.3% from public health laboratory A, 22.3% from hospital B and 32.4% from research centre C. From the study, it was found that 39.9% respondents had overall burnout which was the average of personal, work, and client burnout. Respondents from hospital B recorded the highest overall burnout (47.8%), followed by laboratory A (45.9%) and research centre C (26.0%). For the coping skills, most of the respondents from all facilities had an average coping skill in hospital B, laboratory A and research centre C which was 57.8%, 58.0% and 58.5%, respectively. Conclusion: This study showed that overall burnout among laboratory workers was slightly higher as compared to another study among healthcare workers in Malaysia. Surprisingly, more than half of them showed an average coping mechanism that would help them in managing their burnout. Thus, it is vital for the responsible parties to devise strategic approaches for ensuring the implementation of mental health programs especially to improve coping skills among laboratory workers. Findings from this study will help stakeholders in developing policies to ensure good mental health wellbeing among healthcare workers when responding to future outbreak related disasters.

BibTeX (Download)

@proceedings{APCPH2022-P-21,
title = {Burnout And Coping Skills Among Laboratory Personnel in Selected Facilities During COVID-19 Pandemic in Klang Valley},
author = {Maznieda Mahjom and Noor Syaqilah Shawaluddin and Lim Kuang Kuay and Masita Arip and Rohaida Ismail and Tuan Mohd Amin Tuan Lah and Rosmanajihah Mat Lazim and Mizanurfakhri Ghazali and Nadia Mohamad and Raheel Nazakat},
url = {https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/APCPH2022-P-21.pdf 
 
https://apcph.cphm.my/wp-content/uploads/wpforms/1176-1e04940bb5d885bf8711ed19095a89ed/2.-Poster-APCPH_Burnout-P-21-f6c190f7e7922b1f6c92f6d4aa5d4190.pdf},
year  = {2022},
date = {2022-08-02},
urldate = {2022-08-02},
issue = {7},
abstract = {Introduction: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic which originated from Wuhan has infected more than 500 million humans worldwide as of 16th May 2022. This phenomenon is alarming as it forces the healthcare facilities to function at full capacity, thus increasing healthcare workers ' work burden particularly among laboratory personnel who worked with COVID-19 samples. Long working hours, lack of rest, personal matters and the risk in contracting the disease can affect their stress level, consequently it may lead to burnout which further compromises their mental health. As these presented a great challenge in the continuity of healthcare deliveries, it is important to assess mental health outcomes among them. This study aimed to determine the level of burnout and coping skills among the laboratory personnel in selected facilities in Klang Valley during COVID-19 pandemic. 
Methodology: This cross-sectional study explored the psychological issues and level of coping skills among laboratory personnel in Klang Valley through quota sampling. The online survey (google form) was distributed from October 2021 until December 2021 by each liaison officer to three selected healthcare laboratories that were involved in COVID-19 related work. The questionnaire consists of four components which were demography, Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), stressor and coping mechanisms. Descriptive analysis was done using SPSS version 26.0 to describe the socio-demographic characteristic of the study population and chi-square test was conducted to analyse the association between the burnout status and the level of coping skills. 
Result: A total of 404 laboratory personnel had responded to this survey in which 45.3% from public health laboratory A, 22.3% from hospital B and 32.4% from research centre C. From the study, it was found that 39.9% respondents had overall burnout which was the average of personal, work, and client burnout. Respondents from hospital B recorded the highest overall burnout (47.8%), followed by laboratory A (45.9%) and research centre C (26.0%). For the coping skills, most of the respondents from all facilities had an average coping skill in hospital B, laboratory A and research centre C which was 57.8%, 58.0% and 58.5%, respectively. Conclusion: This study showed that overall burnout among laboratory workers was slightly higher as compared to another study among healthcare workers in Malaysia. Surprisingly, more than half of them showed an average coping mechanism that would help them in managing their burnout. Thus, it is vital for the responsible parties to devise strategic approaches for ensuring the implementation of mental health programs especially to improve coping skills among laboratory workers. Findings from this study will help stakeholders in developing policies to ensure good mental health wellbeing among healthcare workers when responding to future outbreak related disasters.},
howpublished = {published online at https://apcph.cphm.my},
note = {Type: POSTER PRESENTATION; Organisation: Centre of Occupational Health Research, Institute for Public Health, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia; Allergy and Immunology Research Centre, Institute of Medical Research, National Institutes of Health; Environmental Health Research Centre, Institute of Medical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia},
keywords = {burnout, coping skills, Covid-19, laboratory personnel, Pandemic},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {proceedings}
}