Investigation of physiotherapists' burnout, job satisfaction and quality of life levels in Turkey

The aim of this study was to determine burnout, job satisfaction and quality of life levels and the effects of related parameters on these levels in physiotherapists working in different clinical environments in Turkey. 439 volunteers, with an average of 28, 35 ± 5,73 years, working at public hospitals, private rehabilitation centers and private outpatient centers were included in study. After gathering demographic and occupation related data, level of burnout, job satisfaction and quality of life were evaluated using Maslach Burnout Inventory, Job Satisfaction Questionnaire and World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire, respectively. Of the physiotherapists included in the study, 114 (%26) were working at public hospitals, 193 (%44) were working at private rehabilitation centers, 111 (%25, 2) were working at private health centers and 21 (%4,8) were working as an academic staff. A positive correlation was found between total job satisfaction and professional competency; while, analysis showed that job satisfaction was negatively correlated with the lack of regulatory occupational laws (p<0,05). Based on regression analyses, the most effective parameters on job satisfaction were employers? support in physiotherapists? participation to seminaries, personal accomplishment and emotional exhaustion (p<0,05). Comparing physiotherapists with bachelor degree and master of science degree showed that, there were differences between them in the aspects of participation to seminaries, employers? support, professional competency and personal accomplishment but there weren?t any differences in the levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and total job satisfaction between two groups (p>0,05). Based on analyses on physiotherapists with low, moderate and high level job satisfaction, age, duration in the occupation, type of workplace, quality of life domain scores and tendency to quit occupation were found different (p<0,05). It is recommended that, employers should be aware and informed about the needs of physiotherapists and a regulatory occupational law should be administered to the population as soon as possible in order to improve physiotherapists? job satisfaction and productivity.Key Words: Physiotherapist, Job Satisfaction, Burnout, Quality of Life