Quality of Life and Effective Variables Among Health Care Professionals

Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the effect of burnout, depression, and sociodemographic and occupational characteristics on quality of life among health care professionals. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 311 health care professionals employed at five Family Health Centers and Erzincan State Hospital in central Erzincan between May and June 2010. Data were collected using a questionnaire, Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Turkish version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument (WHOQOL-BREF-TR). For analysis of the data, univariate analysis, Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analysis were used. Results: In this study, there was a weak-positive statistically significant relationship between the BDI and MBI (p<0.001), a moderate-negative relationship between the WHOQOL-BREF-TR and BDI, and a weak-negative relationship between the WHOQOL-BREF-TR and MBI (p<0.001). Results of the regression analysis revealed that BDI, Diminished Personal Accomplishment (DPA) and economic problems were significant predictor variables for the physical sub-domain; BDI, DPA, work-years, dissatisfaction with work life, and perception of success in the institution for psychological sub-domain; BDI, DPA, emotional exhaustion (EE), marital status, educational status, place of work, and communication problems for social sub-domain; and BDI, DPA, marital status, and gender for environmental sub-domain. Conclusion: In this study, it was determined that depression and burnout levels of health care professionals were low and quality of life was medium. It was also determined that depression, burnout and some of the variables have a negative impact on the quality of life.