Burnout predicts hospitalization for mental and cardiovascular disorders: 10-year prospective results from industrial sector

This study investigated the prospective effect of burnout as a chronic stress reaction, on cause-specific hospital admissions over 10 years in the forest industry. The data on burnout Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey was collected using a questionnaire at baseline (1996) and the data on hospital admissions were taken from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register between March 1996 and December 2005. The participants consisted of forest industry employees (24 per cent women, 62 percent manual work), with no recent history of a disorder in the same disorder category according to the hospital admission register (January 1986-February 1996) or the registers of prescribed medication (January 1994-February 1996) (N varied from 4543 to 7521). The results showed an increased risk of future hospitalization due to mental and cardiovascular disorders related to burnout syndrome. They also showed that of the separate burnout dimensions, exhaustion and cynicism were predictive of these hospital admissions. This longitudinal follow-up study shows that burnout predicts future mental and cardiovascular ill health. The results illustrate the importance of preventing and alleviating burnout as a means to promote employee health. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.