Study on Burnout Syndrome within the Portuguese Firefighters Population

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to contribute to a better knowledge of the Burnout Syndrome within the Portuguese firefighter population. It will also refer to the relation between Burnout and work satisfaction. Despite the overall intention of the work is to study the entire Portuguese firefighter population, in this stage, only a sample of 39 elements from the operational corps within Alcabideche Firefighter Volunteers was studied.The investigation follows the model of analytical epidemiological studies used to exam associations formed by hypothesis of casual relation. The main intention is to identify, or measure de risk factors and its effects on the health of the operational firefighter referred. It was used a cross-sectional analytic study, as it analyses, on a particular moment one specific population, trying to establish correlations and interferences between selected variables chosen regarding its importance on the firefighters health. It was used a specific questionnaire adapted from the MBI method.The analyses results appointed for no significant statistic correlation between Gender, Age, and Working hours and the three dimensions of Burnout: exhaustion, cynicism and professional efficiency. This may be explained by the possible existence of protection factors: social support, proper working conditions and good relationships among colleges.

Keywords: Burnout; Portuguese Firefighter, Maslach, MBI

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100519