OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess burnout and sense of coherence levels in dentistry students of Karachi.
METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study involving 361 students from four renowned dental colleges in Karachi was carried
out. The students were distributed a questionnaire derived from the Mayo Clinic Well-being Index (WBI) and a modified
13-item Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC scale). They were stratified on the basis of gender, age, professional
year, institution, relationship status, history of chronic medical condition and history of chronic psychiatric condition. Scores
for the WBI and SOC scale were calculated. For the WBI, a score of >4 was a sign that an individual was at risk of developing
burnout or other severe outcomes. A high or low total score on the SOC scale demonstrated whether the individual was able
to cope with his environment or not. MS Excel and SPSS version 23 were used for data compilation and statistical analysis.
Descriptive statistics were calculated. Chi-square test of independence was applied to gauge any association between the strata
and outcome variables. After determination of statistical difference, Mann Whitney-U Test and Kruskal Wallis Test were applied
to compare the means where a significant association was found. A p-value of 0.05 or less was considered significant.
RESULTS: The mean WBI score was found to be 4.07. Around 64% respondents were at-risk of burnout (score > 4). A greater
percentage of females was at risk (66%) as compared to males (50%). Third professional students were found to be the most
affected (77% with WBI score > 4 and 9% in the low coherence category). The mean SOC score was found to be 36.39 (moderate
levels of coherence). Overall, around 4-9% of each professional year students exhibited a low sense of coherence. Age,
relationship status, institution and a history of chronic medical and/or psychiatric condition were not found to have a significant
association with the outcome variables (p>0.05).
CONCLUSION: A significant number of dentistry students are at risk of burn-out and suffer from a low sense of coherence.
The risk factors need to be evaluated and solutions need to be found to create a healthy and conducive environment for the
growth and learning of the students. More research needs to be focused on gathering data related to the well-being of dentistry
students.
KEYWORDS: Burnout, sense of coherence, well-being index, dentistry.
HOW TO CITE: Kazi FM, Ahmed S, Asghar S. Burnout and sense of coherence in dentistry students of Karachi. J Pak Dent
Assoc 2021;30(3):170-177.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25301/JPDA.303.170
Received: 12 November 2020, Accepted: 28 March 2021
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