The relationship between burnout and pet ownership among doctors at Trakya University Faculty of Medicine

SUMMARY Our study, which investigated the relationship between burnout and pet ownership among doctors at Trakya University Faculty of Medicine, included 240 physicians from different titles and specialties who volunteered to participate. Data were collected through a questionnaire including sociodemographic information form, the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U test, Kruskall Wallis Test, and Spearman Correlation Test were used for data analysis. Statistical significance was accepted as p<0.05. Of the participants, 54.2% (n=130) were female, and 45.8% (n=110) were male. The mean age of the participants was determined to be 31.7±8.5 (min=24, max=66) years. Significant differences were found in terms of marital status, living arrangements, parental status, title, and smoking and alcohol use status in terms of MBI. Significant differences were also found in terms of gender, marital status, living arrangements, parental status, and alcohol and smoking use status in terms of LAPS. Research findings showed that gender did not have an effect on burnout, and marriage had a reducing effect on burnout. This finding indicates that spousal support is an important factor in coping with stress and burnout. Furthermore, the negative effect of living alone on emotional exhaustion highlights the importance of social relationships on psychological health. It was also determined that being a parent has positive effects on burnout, indicating that family structure and responsibilities can have positive effects on individuals' burnout. It was observed that economic and professional factors, especially income level and professional branch, did not have a direct effect on burnout. This indicates that burnout is more related to personal and social factors. It was found that smoking and alcohol use had an effect on some sub-dimensions of burnout, indicating the association of unhealthy habits with burnout. However, pet ownership did not have a direct effect on burnout. Due to studies reaching different results in the literature, further studies with larger samples and professional groups are needed to investigate this issue. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the importance of individual and social factors in combating burnout and suggests that interventions to reduce the burnout levels of healthcare professionals should take these factors into account in their design. Social support, work-life balance, and healthy lifestyle choices are critical in reducing burnout. These findings can contribute to the development of comprehensive strategies to protect and improve the health of healthcare workers in the healthcare sector. Keywords: burnout, domestic animals, physicians