Health and wellbeing of staff working at higher education institutions globally during the post-COVID-19 pandemic period: evidence from a cross-sectional study

Rahman, Muhammad Aziz; Das, Pritimoy; Lam, Louisa; Alif, Sheikh M.; Sultana, Farhana; Salehin, Masudus; Banik, Biswajit; Joseph, Bindu; Parul, Parul; Lewis, Andrew; Statham, Dixie; Porter, Joanne; Foster, Kim; Islam, Sheikh Mohammed Shariful; Cross, Wendy; Jacob, Alycia; Hua, Susan; Wang, Qun; Chair, Sek Ying; Chien, Wai Tong; Widati, Sri; Nurmala, Ira; Puspaningsih, Ni Nyoman Tri; Hammoud, Majeda; Omar, Khatijah; Halim, Muhammad Abi Sofian Abdul; Gamal-Eltrabily, Mohammed; Ortiz, Georgina; Al Maskari, Turkiya Saleh; Al Alawi, Salwa Saleh Mohammed; Al-Rahbi, Badriya Saleh; Arulappan, Judie; Ahmad, Akhlaq; Al Laham, Nahed; Mahmud, Ilias; Alasqah, Ibrahim; Noorbhai, Habib; Chang, Shao-Liang; Chen, Yi-Lung; Comlekci, Mehmet Fatih; Basol, Oguz; Saddik, Basema; Hayman, Rick; Polman, Remco

doi:10.1186/s12889-024-19365-1

Table 3 Predictors for perceived burnout among the study participants (based on the burnout scale)

From: Health and wellbeing of staff working at higher education institutions globally during the post-COVID-19 pandemic period: evidence from a cross-sectional study

Characteristics	No perceived burnout (score 1–4)		Perceived burnout (score 5–7)		Unadjusted analyses			Adjusted analyses#
Characteristics	n	%	n	%	p	ORs	95% CIs	p	AORs	95% CIs
Total study participants	1664		684
Age groups
18–29 years	164	72.25	63	27.75		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
30–59 years	1351	70.55	564	29.45	0.595	1.09	0.80–1.48
≥ 60 years	123	75	41	25	0.543	0.86	0.55–1.37
Gender
Male	654	74.91	219	25.1		Ref			Ref
Female	988	68.8	448	31.2	*0.002*	*1.35*	*1.12–1.64*	*0.002*	*1.35*	*1.12–1.63*
Highest educational/vocational qualification
Certificate/Diploma/Trade qualifications	140	66.99	69	33.01		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Bachelors level	385	72.37	147	27.63	0.147	0.77	0.55–1.09
Masters level	534	70.63	222	29.37	0.309	0.84	0.61–1.17
Doctoral level	592	70.81	244	29.19	0.280	0.84	0.60–1.16
Duration of work
< 5 years	378	73.54	136	26.46		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
6–10 years	352	71.11	143	28.89	0.388	1.13	0.86–1.48
> 10 years	897	69.59	392	30.41	0.096	1.22	0.97–1.53
Current living status
Live without family members (on your own/shared house)	259	68.16	121	31.84		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Live with family members (spouse/partners/siblings/children)	1383	71.25	558	28.75	0.226	0.86	0.68–1.10	Not selected in the multivariate model
Types of job
Teaching	326	73.59	117	26.41		Ref			Ref
Research	322	72.52	122	27.48	0.720	1.06	0.78–1.42	Not selected in the multivariate model
Admin	695	70.99	284	29.01	0.313	1.14	0.88–1.47	Not selected in the multivariate model
Leadership	321	66.6	161	33.4	*0.021*	*1.40*	*1.05–1.86*	0.017	1.30	1.05–1.61
Types of appointment
Professional/Admin	647	71.26	261	28.74		Ref			Ref
Academic (Teaching and/or Research)	944	71.41	378	28.59	0.938	0.99	0.08–1.19	Not selected in the multivariate model
Leadership	70	60.87	45	39.13	*0.023*	*1.59*	*1.07–2.38*	*0.021*	*1.59*	*1.07–2.36*
Levels of appointment
Lecturer	251	72.33	96	27.67		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Senior Lecturer/Assistant Professor	308	68.44	142	31.56	0.234	1.21	0.88–1.64
Associate Professor	150	74.26	52	25.74	0.624	0.91	0.61–1.34
Professor	176	73.33	64	26.67	0.789	0.95	0.66–1.38
Other	723	70.19	307	29.81	0.449	1.11	0.85–1.46
Prefer not to say	45	71.43	18	28.57	0.883	1.05	0.58–1.90
Current employment condition
Full time	1363	70.99	557	29.01		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Part time	301	70.33	127	29.67	0.785	1.03	0.82–1.29	Not selected in the multivariate model
Self-reported co-morbidities
No	948	75.9	301	24.1		Ref			Ref
Single co-morbidity	397	68.45	183	31.55	*0.001*	*1.45*	*1.17–1.81*	0.022	1.30	1.04–1.64
Multiple co-morbidities	319	61.46	200	38.45	< *0.001*	*1.97*	*1.59–2.46*	*0.001*	*1.53*	*1.20–1.97*
Self-reported co-morbidities
No	948	75.9	301	24.1		Ref			Ref
Mental health issue	157	53.58	136	46.42	< *0.001*	*2.73*	*2.10–3.55*	Not selected in the multivariate model
Other co-morbidity	559	69.35	247	30.65	*0.001*	*1.39*	*1.14–1.69*	< *0.001*	*1.87*	*1.41–2.48*
Current smoking
Never smoker	1270	71.03	518	28.97		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Ever smoker (Daily, Non-daily, Ex)	394	70.36	166	29.64	0.760	1.03	0.84–1.27	Not selected in the multivariate model
Increased smoking over the last 6 months
No	48	54.55	40	45.45		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Yes	137	83,003	28	16.97	< *0.001*	*0.25*	*0.14–0.44*	Not selected in the multivariate model
Current alcohol drinking
No	637	68.06	299	31.94		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Yes	1027	72.73	385	27.27	*0.015*	*0.79*	*0.67–0.96*	Not selected in the multivariate model
Increased alcohol drinking over the last 6 months
No	556	69.76	241	30.24		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Yes	81	58.7	57	41.3	*0.010*	*1.62*	*1.12–2.35*	Not selected in the multivariate model
Physical activity for at least 30-min in the past week (days)
None	313	64.14	175	35.86		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
1–3 days	817	72.69	307	27.31	*0.001*	*0.67*	*0.54–0.84*
4–7 days	533	72.62	201	27.38	*0.002*	*0.67*	*0.53–0.86*
Experience related to COVID-19 pandemic
No known exposure to COVID-19	1061	68.14	496	31.86		Ref			Ref
Tested positive for COVID-19	602	76.3	187	23.7	< *0.001*	*0.66*	*0.55–0.81*	< *0.001*	*0.65*	*0.54–0.80*
Symptoms of long COVID
No	1201	74.74	406	25.26		Ref			Ref
Yes	407	61.48	255	38.52	< *0.001*	*1.85*	*1.53–2.25*	Not selected in the multivariate model
Doses of COVID vaccine taken
None	42	75	14	25		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Double	463	73.03	171	26.97	0.750	1.11	0.59–2.07
Triple or more	1156	69.89	498	30.11	0.413	1.29	0.69–2.38
Last checked/measured blood pressure
Never checked blood pressure	119	69.39	55	31.61		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Checked within last 6 months	1035	72.43	394	27.57	0.263	0.82	0.59–1.16
Checked > 6 months ago	451	68.85	204	31.15	0.910	0.98	0.68–1.40
Last checked/measured blood lipid profile
Never checked blood lipid profile	455	69.04	204	30.96		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Checked within last 6 months	594	73.97	209	26.03	*0.037*	*0.78*	*0.62–0.99*
Checked > 6 months ago	553	69.91	238	30.09	0.721	0.96	0.77–1.20
Last checked/measured blood sugar
Never checked blood sugar	333	69.52	146	30.48		Ref			Ref
Checked within last 6 months	721	74.33	249	25.67	0.053	0.79	0.62–1.00	*0.004*	*0.76*	*0.63–0.92*
Checked > 6 months ago	550	68.07	258	31.93	0.588	1.07	0.84–1.37	Not selected in the multivariate model
Last visited a healthcare provider for general health assessment
Never visited for general health assessment	261	68.32	121	31.68		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Visited within last 6 months	723	72.16	279	27.84	0.160	0.83	0.64–1.08
Visited > 6 months ago	624	71.15	253	28.85	0.313	0.87	0.67–1.13
Job insecurity (JIS categories)
No (total score 1–3)	1485	74.25	515	25.75		Ref			Ref
Yes (total score 4–5)	179	51.44	169	48.56	< *0.001*	*2.72*	*2.16–3.44*	< *0.001*	*1.99*	*1.55–2.57*
Perceived status of own mental health
Poor to Fair	246	46.86	279	53.14		Ref			Ref
Good to Excellent	1385	78.12	388	21.88	< *0.001*	*0.25*	*0.20–0.30*	< *0.001*	*0.37*	*0.29–0.46*
Levels of psychological distress (K10 categories)
Low (total score 10–15)	553	89.48	65	10.52		Ref			Ref
Moderate to Very high (total score 16–50)	1080	64.17	603	35.83	< *0.001*	*4.75*	*3.61–6.25*	< *0.001*	*3.23*	*2.42–4.30*
Levels of coping (BRCS categories)
Low resilient copers (score 4–13)	626	65.28	333	34.72		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Medium to High resilient copers (score 14–20)	991	75.25	326	24.75	< *0.001*	*0.62*	*0.51–0.75*	Not selected in the multivariate model

^#stepwise logistic regression method was applied, and variables were selected as significant level p < 0.05 in the univariate analyses and p < 0.01 in the multivariate analyses

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