Burnout and quality of life among correctional officers in a women’s correctional facility

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The correctional officer career is considered a stressful and risky occupation that can affect the mental health of workers due to stress and burnout; this syndrome presents itself with physical, psychological, behavioral, and defensive symptoms, ultimately affecting quality of life. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the sociodemographic profile, burnout levels, and quality of life of female correctional officers in a women's correctional facility, as well as to verify possible correlations between these variables. METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study performed in a women's correctional facility located in Aquiraz, in the state of Ceará, through the use of 3 evaluation instruments: the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey, the abbreviated version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument, and a general information questionnaire. RESULTS: Most of the correctional officers were married or cohabiting, aged between 31 and 40 years old, with complete or partial undergraduate education, and at least 1 child. In the burnout investigation, mean scores were 1.9±1.43, indicating a moderate level of burnout. Regarding quality of life, the environment domain presented the lowest scores (57.34%). We observed a correlation between burnout and quality of life, in which the higher the burnout scores, the lower the quality of life reported by correctional officers. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that correctional officers face a risk of developing burnout, thus affecting their quality of life; therefore, preventive health care measures are required for these professionals.