Measurement of Burnout: Validation of the Sinhala Translation of Maslach Burnout Inventory - Educators Survey among Female Primary School Teachers in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Background and Objective: Burnout was recognized as a disease entity about three decades ago and was found to be highly prevalent among the human service professionals. Objective of this study was to translate the Maslach Burnout Inventory- Educators Survey (MBI-ES) in to Sinhala and to validate it for the identification of burnout among female teachers of Sri Lanka.

Methods: Translation was carried out using combined qualitative and quantitative methods with a nominal group. Face, content and consensual validity were assessed by a group of experts. To determine the criterion validity, total scores of MBI-ES-Sinhala version (MBI-ES-Sin) were compared with a diagnosis made by a consultant psychiatrist. Using a Receiver-operated Characteristic (ROC) Curve, suitable cut-off points were determined. Test- retest reliability was measured using paired t-test. Cronbach’s alpha was used to measure the internal consistency.

Results: Face, content, consensual and criterion validity of MBI-ES-Sin were found to be satisfactory. Total MBI-ES-Sin score 54 was taken as the cut-off point with a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 90.4%. Testretest reliability was found to be satisfactory. The internal consistency in each sub-scale and also in the total scale was satisfactory.

Conclusion: MBI-ES-Sin is a reliable and a valid instrument to measure burnout among female teachers in Sri Lanka. Therefore, we can further conclude that the methods used in the translation and validation in this study are appropriate and can be used to translate and validate MBI-ES to any other language.

Galle Medical Journal, Vol 18: No. 1, March 2013:Page 8-11