Copenhagen Burnout inventory (CBI)

The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) was developed to measure burnout in various domains. It is a valid and reliable instrument consisting of 19 simply asked questions. The CBI contains three sections of the questionnaire, each focusing on a different area of burnout: personal burnout, job burnout, and client-related burnout. In CBI, the core of burnout is fatigue and exhaustion. Personal burnout is operationalized in terms of feelings of physical, emotional, and mental fatigue and exhaustion, while work-related burnout refers to symptoms that respondents attribute to their specific work activities. Client-related burnout instead taps burnout symptoms selectively referring to respondents’ feelings toward their target clients.

Length of filling

Filling out the entire questionnaire takes about 5 minutes.

Individualized feedback for the respondent

By evaluating the questionnaire, the respondent will find out whether he is at risk of personal, work, client-related burnout or none.

Keywords

CBI, burnout, burnout, burnout, personal burnout, job burnout, client-related burnout

Scoring and interpretation

For each subscale of the CBI, a total score is calculated as the average of the points obtained for the individual items. The average score ranges between 0-100, with a higher score indicating a higher level of burnout. In the entire questionnaire, one reverse item is placed in the burnout subscale: “Do you have enough energy for family and friends in your free time?”. The order of the questions is not fixed and should alternate.

Response scale

Probands answer the CBI items on a five-point scale, being verbally anchored in the questionnaire in two ways according to the type of item, so that the response to the item makes sense (scored in the same way). First type: “Always” (100), “Often” (75), “Occasionally” (50), “Rarely” (25) and “Never/almost never” (0). Second type: “To a very high extent” (100), “To a high extent” (75), “Partly” (50), “To a low extent” (25) and “To a very low extent” (0). Points can also be scored as 4 to 0 points.

References

Borritz, M., Rugulies, R., Bjorner, J., Villadsen, E., Mikkelsen, O., & Kristensen, T. (2006). Burnout among employees in human service work: design and baseline findings of the PUMA study. Candinavian Journal of Public Health, 34(1), 49-58. https://doi.org/10.1080/14034940510032275

Copenhagen Burnout Inventory - CBI. (2023). Det Nationale Forskningscenter for Arbejdsmiljø. Retrieved March 6, 2023, from https://nfa.dk/da/Vaerktoejer/Sporgeskemaer/Sporgeskema-til-maaling-af-udbraendthed/Copenhagen-Burnout-Inventory-CBI

Kristensen, T., Borritz, M., Villadsen, E., & Christensen, K. (2005). The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory: A new tool for the assessment of burnout. Work & Stress, 19(3), 192-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/02678370500297720