Occupational burnout among healthcare professionals in China: departmental differences, modifiable correlates, and public health intervention strategies

BACKGROUND: Burnout is a critical threat to healthcare workforce stability and patient care quality globally, and it has evolved into a major public health concern in China due to unique systemic pressures. However, data on specialty-specific burnout differences-especially between high-stress fields like internal medicine and psychiatry-remain limited. This study aimed to characterize burnout prevalence, departmental variations, and factors associated with burnout among healthcare professionals in Jining, China, to inform targeted public health intervention hypotheses. METHODS: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare professionals from three tertiary hospitals in Jining. In total, 754 valid participants were included in the analysis. Burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), which showed good reliability in this study. One-way ANOVA and chi-square tests were used to compare burnout dimensions across departments and occupations. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with burnout. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of burnout (total MBI score ≥ 50) was 7.3% (55/754). Internal medicine had the highest burnout scores across all dimensions, whereas psychiatry had the lowest, and differences remained significant after adjustment for hospital affiliation and occupation. Within psychiatry, physicians reported higher EE, whereas nurses showed higher DP and lower personal accomplishment.In multivariable analysis, independent factors associated with burnout included hospital affiliation, interpersonal relationship, introversion-extraversion, and neuroticism. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to conventional assumptions, internal medicine was associated with higher burnout levels and psychiatry with lower levels after accounting for hospital and occupational confounders. Interpersonal relationship satisfaction, psychological traits (introversion-extraversion, neuroticism), and hospital affiliation were independently associated with burnout. Targeted interventions such as workload optimization in internal medicine and resilience-building practices from psychiatry may help mitigate burnout.