The relationship between burnout and empathy in physiotherapists: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: There have been few studies carried out into empathy in physiotherapists. Burnoutcandebilitatethequalityofcareandtheefficacyof treatmentas theempatheticcapacityof theprofessionaldiminishes. Objective: Theobjectiveof thestudywas toexamine theassociationbetweentheconstruct burnout,empathyandsociodemographicaspects inSpanishphysiotherapists. Methods:Across-sectionalelectronicsurveyincludingtheMaslachBurnout Inventory(forburnout assessment), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (for empathyassessment) andsociodemographicdatawasansweredby461Spanishphysical therapists.Adescriptive,bivariateandlineal regressionanalysiswasperformed. Results: Therewasanassociationbetweenburnoutandempathy. Specifically, higher levelsof burnoutareassociatedwithlower levelsofempathy,whilstyearsofworkexperience isassociatedwithlower levelsofburnout. Conclusions:Theresultsof thisstudycontributetoagreaterunderstandingof therelationship betweenthelevelofburnoutandthedimensionsofempathyinphysiotherapists.Theinfluence ofburnout,whichcausesdifficulties inthemobilizationof theprofessional towards theestablishmentofaqualitytherapeuticrelationship, ishighlighted.