Burnout, depression, and job stress factors in healthcare workers of a Romanian COVID-19 dedicated hospital, after two pandemic years
Open accessAbstract
The COVID-19 pandemic put unprecedented pressure on all areas of activity, especially healthcare workers. Understanding the psychological response to the pandemic in healthcare workers is an important challenge. This study aims to investigate burnout, depression, and job stress factors in the medical personnel of a COVID-19-dedicated hospital, two years after the beginning of the pandemic. The survey was performed between the fifth and sixth pandemic waves in Romania. Employees of the Clinical Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Cluj-Napoca, completed an online survey using four tools: Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), the Karasek Job factors questionnaire, and the Patient Health Questionnaire–9 (PHQ-9). A total of 114 employees completed the questionnaire (10.83% of total employees). The results showed 100% prevalence of Maslach burnout (56.1% moderate and severe burnout) and 63.1% prevalence of depression. The infectious disease resident doctors had the highest prevalence of burnout scores, depression, and perceived Karasek job demands. The 22- to 30-year-old age group and the group with fewer than ten years of professional experience had a significantly higher prevalence of burnout and depression than older employees or employees with more professional experience. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a high impact on the mental health of healthcare workers.
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Briciu et al. found a 63.1% prevalence of depression in health personnel in a Romanian hospital two years after the pandemic, using the PHQ-9 scale.
“el estudio realizado por Briciu et al.29 en un hospital rumano, dos años después de la pandemia, donde se encontró una prevalencia del 63,1% de depresión en el personal sanitario utilizando la escala PHQ-9.”
From Síntomas depresivos en trabajadores de la salud dos años después del inicio de la pandemia COVID-19 en Bogotá, Colombia (2025) · cites this paper as [29]
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- Authors
- Briciu, V., Leucuta, D.-C., Tőkés, G. E., & Colcear, D.
- Affiliations
- Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy (RO)
- Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania (RO)
- The Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases, 400348 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Corresponding author
- Leucuta, Daniel-Corneliu
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2023-02-25
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 4118
- ISSN
- 1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10001558
- OpenAlex
- W4322503347
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 7
- FWCI
- 8.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- PDI-PFE-CDI 2021 (40PFE/30.12.2021)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
- Keywords
- burnout, depression, occupational stress, healthcare workers, COVID-19 pandemic, workplace mental health, job demands, medical residents, Romania
- MeSH terms
- Occupational Stress, Burnout, Psychological, COVID-19, Adult, Burnout, Professional, Child, Depression, Health Personnel, Hospitals, Humans, Romania, Young Adult, Pandemics
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