WORKPLACE WORKLOAD AND BURNOUT SIGNALS AMONG CLINICAL LABORATORY PROFESSIONALS: IMPLICATIONS FOR QUALITY CONTROL ADHERENCE

A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Occupational Strain and Quality Performance in Tertiary Care Laboratories

Abstract

Background: Clinical laboratory professionals operate under sustained analytical workloads, staffing pressures, and shift demands that may predispose them to occupational burnout. Burnout is increasingly recognized as a determinant of error-prone behavior in healthcare settings, yet its specific relationship with quality control (QC) adherence in laboratory medicine has received limited empirical attention.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey-based design was used to examine workload, burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment), and QC adherence among 312 laboratory professionals across hematology, chemistry, microbiology, blood bank, and histopathology sections of a tertiary care hospital. Workload was measured using a NASA Task Load Index-derived composite score. Burnout was assessed using Maslach Burnout Inventory-consistent subscales. QC adherence was measured via a composite adherence score (0-100) and the count of QC non-conformances over the preceding six months. Associations were examined using Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression, logistic regression, and negative binomial regression.

Results: High burnout (elevated emotional exhaustion and depersonalization) was identified in 24.4% of participants. Workload index correlated strongly with emotional exhaustion (r = 0.64, p < .001). Participants meeting high-burnout criteria had significantly lower QC adherence scores than those who did not (82.1 ± 7.6 vs. 89.4 ± 7.0; Welch t(122.0) = -7.36, p < .001). In multiple linear regression, emotional exhaustion (β = -0.37, p < .001) and depersonalization (β = -0.29, p < .001) were independent negative predictors of QC adherence, while workload index, years of experience, and weekly working hours were not independently significant after adjustment. Workload index was an independent predictor of high-burnout status (OR = 1.14, 95% CI 1.10-1.18, p < .001). Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were independently associated with higher rates of QC non-conformances (negative binomial regression, p < .001 and p = .018, respectively).

Conclusions: Workload-driven emotional exhaustion and depersonalization are independently associated with reduced QC adherence and increased non-conformance rates among laboratory professionals, independent of raw workload or working hours. These findings support burnout surveillance as a component of laboratory quality management systems and suggest that interventions targeting emotional exhaustion may have direct benefits for analytical quality and patient safety.