A survey on the current status of rehabilitation services and burnout of rehabilitation professionals in Shanghai

BACKGROUND: Although many studies have discussed burnout in clinical physicians, the evidence literature about physical rehabilitation professionals is still limited in China. OBJECTIVE: To understand the current status of rehabilitation services and burnout of rehabilitation professionals in Shanghai. METHOD: Twenty-four hospitals located in three districts of Shanghai were selected for this study. The questionnaire surveys of 24 hospitals and their 221 rehabilitation professionals and 235 other medical professionals were conducted. RESULTS: The percentages of the hospitals that had rehabilitation departments in three districts of Shanghai ranged from 25.0% to 88.9%, suggesting a great variation in distribution of rehabilitation resources. Only one tertiary general hospital had 12 beds for inpatient rehabilitation. The surveyed rehabilitation professionals who had graduate or undergraduate education accounted for 64.90% as a whole, but 49.32% in community health centers, 66.67% in secondary general hospitals, and 77.78% in tertiary general hospitals. The average scores for emotional exhaustion, cynicism and low professional efficacy were 11.66, 7.48, and 10.36 respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals that the resources in the field of rehabilitation in Shanghai need to be enhanced to meet its future demands. It is also recommended that the managers in secondary general hospitals and the local government pay more attention to the rehabilitation professionals in the secondary general hospitals because they are reporting higher emotional exhaustion. Finally, the value of rehabilitation services to help persons with disabilities need to be better conveyed to all interested parties.