Burnout Assessment Tool – Work-Related Version
The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) provides clinicians with a robust, multidimensional framework for understanding what is burnout and evaluating…
- Questions
- 23
- Duration
- 10 min
- Original title
- Burnout Assessment Tool – Work-Related Version (BAT-23 + BAT-S)
- Adaptation
- Burnout Assessment Tool – Work-Related Version
- Authors
- Schaufeli, W.B., De Witte, H. & Desart, S.
- Created
- 2020
The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) provides clinicians with a robust, multidimensional framework for understanding what is burnout and evaluating work-related exhaustion. Unlike older measures that focus primarily on fatigue, the BAT captures the full clinical picture by assessing four core symptoms—exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive impairment, and emotional impairment—alongside secondary psychological and psychosomatic distress. Designed for working adults experiencing significant occupational stress, it offers a granular view of how a patient's capacity to function is deteriorating.
Using the BAT in clinical practice allows providers to move beyond vague descriptions of fatigue and explicitly discuss the impact of psychosocial risks at work. By establishing a validated baseline, clinicians can precisely identify which dimensions are most active and tailor their interventions accordingly. The instrument's sensitivity to change also makes it an excellent tool for monitoring therapeutic progress and evaluating a patient's readiness to return to work.
Example result
Fictitious result, computed from a sample set of answers.
Have your patient take this test
Assign it in one click: your patient answers on their phone, you receive the score and its interpretation.
What the test measures
The BAT evaluates the severity of burnout through a primary core scale and a supplementary secondary symptoms scale. The core scale assesses four central facets of the syndrome:
- Exhaustion: Severe loss of physical and mental energy, feeling drained, and lacking the resources to initiate the workday.
- Mental distance: Cynicism, profound disengagement, and a loss of enthusiasm or meaning regarding work tasks.
- Cognitive impairment: Difficulties with focus, memory, and clear thinking that disrupt professional performance.
- Emotional impairment: Reduced emotion regulation skills at work, leading to uncharacteristic irritability or sudden tearfulness.
The secondary scale captures additional physical and psychological complaints often linked to an overactive autonomic nervous system. It is designed for adults currently in employment or recently on sick leave due to occupational stress.
When and why to use it
Clinicians typically integrate the BAT when a patient presents with significant workplace distress or unexplained somatic symptoms linked to professional life.
- Intake assessment: to systematically map the patient's symptomatic profile across cognitive, emotional, and physical domains.
- Formulation: to identify the primary sources of workplace stress and how they manifest in daily functioning.
- Monitoring change: to track improvements objectively throughout therapy and adjust adaptive vs maladaptive coping mechanisms as needed.
- Return-to-work evaluation: to assess whether the patient has regained sufficient resources to reintegrate into their professional environment safely.
A validated score offers a structured baseline that anchors clinical judgment and helps patients validate their lived experience better than subjective clinical impression alone.
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Access all the toolsThe questions
- The following statements are related to your work situation and how you experience this situation. Please state how often each statement applies to you.1. At work, I feel mentally exhausted.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 2. Everything I do at work takes a lot of effort.Assesses the perceived energetic cost of standard occupational tasks.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 3. After a day at work, I find it hard to regain my energy.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 4. At work, I feel physically exhausted.Measures the somatic sensation of profound bodily tiredness in the professional setting.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 5. When I get up in the morning, I lack the energy to start a new workday.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 6. I want to be active at work, but I can't manage to do it.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 7. When I put in a lot of effort at work, I get more tired than usual.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 8. At the end of my workday, I feel mentally drained and exhausted.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 9. I have a hard time feeling enthusiastic about my work.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 10. At work, I don't think about what I'm doing and just go on autopilot.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 11. I feel a deep aversion to my work.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 12. I feel indifferent about my work.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 13. I don't think others consider my work important.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 14. I have trouble paying attention at work.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 15. At work, I find it difficult to think clearly.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 16. I forget things and get distracted at work.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 17. When I'm working, I have a hard time concentrating.Captures broader difficulties with mental absorption and task-oriented focus.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 18. I make mistakes in my work because my mind is elsewhere.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 19. At work, I feel unable to control my emotions.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 20. I don't recognize myself in my emotional reactions at work.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 21. When I'm at work, I get irritable when things don't go the way I want.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 22. Sometimes I get angry or sad at work without really knowing why.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
- 23. At work, I sometimes overreact without meaning to.Assesses a lowered threshold for frustration and reactive anger toward workplace obstacles.
- Never
- Rarely
- Sometimes
- Often
- Always
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