Burnout and depression in nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Nurses work in stressful and demanding settings and often suffer from depression and burnout. Despite overlapping symptoms, research has been inconclusive regarding the discriminant valid-ity of measures of burnout with regard to measures of depression. Such inconclusive discriminant validity might cause clinicians to fail to recognize and manage depression separately from burnout. Objectives: This meta-analysis aimed to clarify the distinctiveness of burnout as a separate construct by examining the size of the relationship between burnout and depression among nurses as well as potential moderators. Method: A stepwise method was used by searching 4 databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and EM-BASE) to retrieve published papers in English examining the relationship between burnout and depres-sion among nurses and reporting the effect sizes of their findings. Results: We identified a total of 37 eligible studies. The pooled estimate showed a positive association be-tween burnout and depression among nurses ( r = 0.403, 95% CI [0.327, 0.474], p < 0.0 0 01) and a slightly higher correlation coefficient for the Emotional Exhaustion subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) measure (0.494, 95% CI [0.41, 0.57]). Conclusions and Implications: This review confirms a large burnout -depression correlation in nursing samples, adding to existing literature encompassing a variety of occupations. Future studies should focus on path analysis to assess the causal relationship as well as investigate potential moderators. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A meta-analysis of 37 studies found a positive correlation between burnout and depression among nurses, with a slightly higher correlation coefficient for the Emotional Exhaustion subscale. Future studies should focus on path analysis and potential moderators.