ORIGINAL PAPER
Professional burnout of Ukrainian rehabilitation professionals in the context of military conflict: a cross-sectional study
1
Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Sports Medicine, Sumy State University, Sumy, Ukraine
2
Department of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Khortytsia National Academy, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Submission date: 2025-01-30
Acceptance date: 2025-05-15
Online publication date: 2026-01-28
Corresponding author
Olha Yezhova
Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Sports Medicine, Sumy State University, 116 Kharkivska Street, Sumy, 40007, Ukraine
Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Sports Medicine, Sumy State University, 116 Kharkivska Street, Sumy, 40007, Ukraine
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Ukrainian rehabilitation professionals work under challenging conditions with military and civilian casualties resulting from the military conflict. Our study aims to examine the degree of professional burnout (PB) among Ukrainian rehabilitation professionals in the context of military conflict.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study of rehabilitation professionals in Ukraine was conducted using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. A total of 112 rehabilitation professionals participated in the study: physical therapists (59.82%), occupational therapists (10.71%), their assistants (22.32%), and physicians in physical and rehabilitation medicine (7.14%). The analysis considered sex, position, work experience, and the region where the facility was located.
Results:
The data show that rehabilitation professionals demonstrate a moderate level of PB across all scales. No statistically significant differences were found in emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP) or professional accomplishment (PA) scores among groups by the categories studied. But a cluster analysis of individual profiles identified 3 groups with varying levels of PB: the first group exhibited high EE and DP scores and low PA scores; the second group showed moderate EE and DP scores and low PA scores; and the third group had low scores across all three scales.
Conclusions:
The average EE, DP, PA scale scores indicate that rehabilitation professionals generally demonstrate a moderate level of burnout during military conflict. However, the analysis of individual PB profiles reveals that 50–65% of Ukrainian rehabilitation professionals exhibit high or moderate levels of PB in the context of military conflict.
Ukrainian rehabilitation professionals work under challenging conditions with military and civilian casualties resulting from the military conflict. Our study aims to examine the degree of professional burnout (PB) among Ukrainian rehabilitation professionals in the context of military conflict.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study of rehabilitation professionals in Ukraine was conducted using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. A total of 112 rehabilitation professionals participated in the study: physical therapists (59.82%), occupational therapists (10.71%), their assistants (22.32%), and physicians in physical and rehabilitation medicine (7.14%). The analysis considered sex, position, work experience, and the region where the facility was located.
Results:
The data show that rehabilitation professionals demonstrate a moderate level of PB across all scales. No statistically significant differences were found in emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP) or professional accomplishment (PA) scores among groups by the categories studied. But a cluster analysis of individual profiles identified 3 groups with varying levels of PB: the first group exhibited high EE and DP scores and low PA scores; the second group showed moderate EE and DP scores and low PA scores; and the third group had low scores across all three scales.
Conclusions:
The average EE, DP, PA scale scores indicate that rehabilitation professionals generally demonstrate a moderate level of burnout during military conflict. However, the analysis of individual PB profiles reveals that 50–65% of Ukrainian rehabilitation professionals exhibit high or moderate levels of PB in the context of military conflict.
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