PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF BURNOUT AND STRESS AMONG PROFESSIONALS WORKING WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS’ CHILDREN IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN.

Abstract

Background: The number of children with autism spectrum disorder has considerably reported in Pakistan over the few years. These children necessitate extra time and effort of professionals working with them. A demanding work with a stressful environment and different factors associated with them can greatly increase an individual’s occupational stress and burnout.

Objective: This study investigated the prevalence and associated factors of burnout and stress among professionals working with autism spectrum disorders’ children in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methodology: The sampling of this cross-sectional study was conducted through convenience-based sampling, recruiting 120 professionals (by using open epi calculator) of both genders, aged 22-50 years dealing with autism spectrum disorder and having clinical expertise of more than 6 months in Karachi, Pakistan. A semi-structured questionnaire with standardized scales was administered employing perceived stress scale (PSS) and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory  (CBI). It was distributed in a hybrid format comprising participant’s voluntary consent and demographics.

Result: Frequency of Copenhagen burnout inventory, CBI scores described 56.7% participants with moderate to high burnout whereas Perceived stress scale, PSS reported 90% of moderate to high levels of stress among the participants, exhibiting P value statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05).

Conclusion: The study concludes that burnout and stress have substantial prevalence with professionals dealing with children with autism spectrum disorder. Personal burnout is notably higher than work-related and client-related burnout. Based on study findings, professionals with more experience, working long duty hours, higher qualification and salary dissatisfaction were significantly associated with burnout and stress. Substantial measures should be introduced to alleviate burnout and stress.