The Impact of COVID-19 on Burnout in Health Information Professionals

Objectives: This study builds on data obtained during a 2019 study measuring burnout in health information professionals using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). The investigators seek to understand how burnout rates have changed over the past 3 years and assess how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected burnout rates among health information professionals.

Methods: Potential study participants must be current health information professionals and were contacted via various medical and special librarianship listservs to complete a survey using Qualtrics. Participants were asked to first complete a modified Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) questionnaire and then assess their own levels of burnout, regardless of how they answered the CBI. Respondents were also asked to rank how COVID-19 has affected their burnout, factors affecting their current burnout levels, and if they have taken any additional measures to cope with burnout during the pandemic. Demographic information was collected to quantify results with others in similar settings and experience levels.

Results: 399 survey responses were recorded; of these, 365 contained enough data to be considered usable. Average CBI scores showed that 43.71% were at least moderately burned out or feeling some symptoms of burnout. This is a 36.5% increase in burnout since 2019. 75% of respondents self-reported feeling at least somewhat burned out in comparison to 40% in 2019. 55% said that COVID-19 has impacted their burnout and 29.2% said COVID-19 was somewhat a factor, meaning that 84.3% of survey participants feel that COVID-19 has affected their level of burnout. The main factors contributing to burnout in 2022 include general pandemic concerns, having too much to do, and work environment. Outside of the general pandemic concerns, the factors contributing to burnout are similar to those identified in 2019.

Conclusions: Has the COVID-19 pandemic influenced burnout in health information professionals? A 2019 survey reported about 42% of health information professionals were facing significant levels of burnout. Our study shows that considerably more health information professionals are burned out than they were pre-pandemic, and 55% of respondents attribute this to COVID-19. This study contributes to the growing scholarship of burnout in librarians and may help health information professionals cope with the ongoing pandemic.