EXPLORING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN OCCUPATIONAL BURNOUT AND NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES AMONG FRONTLINE HEALTHCARE WORKERS

Abstract

Background: Occupational burnout, a psychological syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment, is increasingly prevalent among healthcare professionals. Simultaneously, poor dietary habits are common in this population due to demanding work environments, yet the interplay between nutrition and burnout remains underexplored. Objective: To investigate the association between burnout dimensions and dietary habits among frontline healthcare workers and examine whether dietary habits predict levels of emotional exhaustion while controlling for gender and shift pattern. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 120 healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff from a hospital setting. Participants completed standardized measures assessing burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory) and dietary habits. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression were used for data analysis. Results: The sample comprised 53.3% females and was predominantly aged 20–40 years. Females reported significantly higher emotional exhaustion than males (p = .006), while males reported higher personal accomplishment (p = .029). Burnout dimensions did not significantly differ across professional roles. Dietary habits were significantly negatively correlated with emotional exhaustion (r = –0.38, p < .001) and depersonalization (r = –0.22, p = .015), and positively with personal accomplishment (r = 0.35, p < .001). Regression analysis revealed dietary habits as a significant negative predictor of emotional exhaustion (β = –0.38, p < .001), along with gender (β = 0.18, p = .047); the overall model explained 21% of the variance in emotional exhaustion (R² = 0.21, p < .001). Conclusion: Unhealthy dietary habits are significantly associated with higher burnout levels, particularly emotional exhaustion, among healthcare workers. Interventions targeting nutritional behaviors may serve as effective strategies to mitigate burnout and enhance workforce well-being.