The Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic On Mental Workload and Occupational Burnout in Medical Staff: A Case-Control Study

Psychological parameters are among the most important components in determining the job performance of employees in the workplace and can be strongly affected by the epidemic of infectious diseases like COVID-19. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on mental workload and Occupational burnout of medical staff in Iran.

This case-control study was performed among the healthcare staff of two hospitals in Tehran province in 2021. All employees working in two hospitals were included by census method. The total number of people studied was 412 personnel. NASA-TLX and Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaires were used to assess mental workload and burnout, respectively. Data were analyzed using Independent t-test and Chi-square.

The present study results revealed that the mean age, work experience, daily working hours, and body mass index of the studied employees were 36.70 ± 11.48 years, 12.53 ± 7.13 years, 9.64 ± 3.13 hours, and 23.89 ± 4.73 kg/m2, respectively. There was a significant difference between the two groups of cases and controls in the values of mental workload (P = 0.011) and burnout (P = 0.001).

The present study's findings revealed that the prevalence of COVID-19 could increase the values of mental workload parameters and burnout of health care personnel in medical settings. Therefore, control measures and psychological interventions to improve healthcare personnel's mental and physical health during the COVID-19 epidemic are mandatory.