To assess the level of emotional burn-out (EB) and its relation to affective state and personality characteristics of medical doctors in the region of Moscow.

A random sample of 80 medical doctors (MD) (mainly internists, aged 25 - 72, M/F 6/74) was given Boyko's Emotional Burn-out Test (BEBT), Spilberger's State/Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Zung depression scale (ZDS), Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Job's Satisfaction Scale (JSS), Professional Attitudes/Locus of Control Scale and Specialty knowledge Test (SKT).

EB was present in 34/80 (42.5%) MD, with no difference between hospital and ambulatory doctors and no correlation with age, years in profession, SKT score, professional locus of control and attitudes towards patients' autonomy. It increased with the number of patients seen monthly (r=0.25, p<0.05) and was inversely related to JSS score (r= -0.47, p<0.001). MD's with EB, compared to those without, scored higher on state (33.5±10.5[32] vs. 26.9±9.0[25], p=0.004) and trait anxiety (52.4±10.6[52] vs. 43.1±8.4[45], p<0.001) and ZDI (37.9±7.6[39] vs. 33.4±6.7[32], p=0.008), respectively. MD's with EB scored significantly higher on MMPI scales Depression, Paranoia and Social Introversion and significantly lower on Masculinity.

EB, affecting a large proportion of MD's in the Moscow region, is only weakly linked to workload, if at all. It is associated with depressive/anxious affect and personality traits, such as more rigid thinking and low confidence with others, sensitivity and vulnerability, decreased ability/willingness to communicate. If some of these traits predispose to EB or represent various types of reaction to EB, remains to be assessed prospectively.