Abstract
BACKGROUND: Caregivers in intensive care units are exposed to high levels of stress, which were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing the incidence of stress-related disorders, including burnout. METHODS: We evaluated the influence of mindfulness and coping flexibility in the early days of burnout development in a prospective study of 50 military caregivers working in a mobile resuscitation unit during the COVID-19 pandemic. We visited the participants at the end of deployment (day 0; D0) and three weeks later (D21). On D0, the participants completed questionnaires assessing mindfulness (Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory; FMI), coping flexibility (Flexcop), and burnout (Burnout Measure, Short Version; BMS). Subjective sleep symptoms were also assessed to evaluate their relationship with burnout. The BMS was repeated on D21. RESULTS: Four short-term burnout evolutions were observed: (i) "healthy" on D0 and D21; (ii) "exhausted," healthy on D0 and burnout on D21; (iii) "resilient," burnout on D0 and healthy on D21; and (iv) "burnout" on D0 and D21. Compared with healthy participants on D0, only resilient participants had lower FMI (η2 = 0.22; p = 0.032). Exhausted participants had more difficulty waking, and burnout participants had higher daytime fatigue than healthy participants. FMI scores on D0 negatively correlated with BMS scores on D21 (r = ‒0.40 r2 = 0.16 p = 0.009) for the entire population, and also after excluding burnout status at D0 (r = ‒0.41 r2 = 0.17 p = 0.02). Flexcop scores on D0 did not correlate with BMS scores on D21. CONCLUSIONS: This study underlines the importance of mindfulness in the early days of burnout onset, and suggests considering its reinforcement for prevention of burnout and its measurement as a potential biomarker of burnout risk.