Emotional exhaustion, burnout, and perceived stress in dental students

Abstract

Objective As in other health sciences, a career in dentistry is associated with numerous stressors in practitioners. The main objective of this research was to examine the prevalence of emotional exhaustion, burnout, and perceived stress among dental students in Mexico. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 73 dental students attending a private university in Northern Mexico. Three scales were administered to students to identify emotional exhaustion, burnout, and perceived stress, and parametric data analysis was performed. Results Among participants (mean age 19.7 years), the proportion with emotional exhaustion, perceived high stress, and burnout was 52.0%, 42.3%, and 17.8%, respectively. All students with perceived stress also had burnout. Conclusions We found that emotional exhaustion and perceived stress are experienced by a large proportion of dentistry students enrolled in the third semester at this private university in Northern Mexico. The proportions were independent of age and sex.