Death Anxiety in the Association Between Exposure-Related Burden of Patient Death and Occupational Burnout Among Healthcare Professionals: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background/Objectives: Occupational burnout remains a major concern among healthcare professionals and is closely linked to chronic workplace stress. Exposure to patient death may represent a death-related psychosocial occupational burden that is emotionally and existentially demanding but still insufficiently examined in relation to burnout. This study aimed to examine associations between exposure-related burden of patient death, death anxiety, and occupational burnout among healthcare professionals, and to explore whether the observed pattern of results was consistent with an indirect statistical association involving death anxiety. Associations between coping strategies, burnout, and death anxiety were also examined. Methods: The study included 60 healthcare professionals representing various healthcare occupations. Data were collected using an anonymous online survey comprising a preliminary author-developed measure of exposure-related burden of patient death, a brief preliminary author-developed measure of death anxiety, the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT-PL), and the Brief COPE inventory. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analyses, linear regression, and exploratory indirect effect analysis using Hayes’ PROCESS macro. Results: In the sample of 60 healthcare professionals, exposure-related burden of patient death was positively associated with occupational burnout (r = 0.53, 95% CI [0.32, 0.69], p < 0.001) and death anxiety (r = 0.30, 95% CI [0.05, 0.51], p = 0.022). Death anxiety was positively associated with occupational burnout (r = 0.54, 95% CI [0.33, 0.70], p < 0.001). The exploratory indirect effect analysis yielded a pattern of results consistent with an indirect statistical association involving death anxiety (B = 0.12, 95% CI [0.0001, 0.282]). The overall model accounted for 44.6% of the variance in occupational burnout (R2 = 0.446). Avoidant coping strategies were associated with higher levels of death anxiety and burnout, whereas emotion-focused coping strategies were associated with lower levels of death anxiety. Conclusions: The findings suggest that death-related emotional and existential burden may be relevant to understanding occupational burnout among healthcare professionals. Death anxiety may be one psychological factor involved in this association. However, because of the cross-sectional design, small convenience sample, and use of preliminary author-developed measures, the results should be interpreted cautiously and should not be considered evidence of causal mechanisms. These findings highlight the need to consider death-related experiences in occupational burnout prevention and worker well-being strategies in healthcare settings.