BAT Burnout Assessment Tool: Scores and Cut-offs

What it measures

The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) was developed by Schaufeli, De Witte and Desart (2019) at KU Leuven. It is a self-report measure of burnout across four core dimensions: exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive impairment and emotional impairment. A 10-item secondary symptoms scale covers psychological complaints (sleep, worry, tension, anxiety, sensitivity to noise and crowds) and psychosomatic complaints (palpitations or chest pain, GI complaints, headaches, muscle pain, frequent illness). The BAT is a screening instrument, not a diagnostic tool.

Versions and scoring

Switch between the work-related version (23 core items: 8 exhaustion, 5 mental distance, 5 cognitive impairment, 5 emotional impairment) and the general version (22 core items, with 4 mental distance items). Each item is rated 1 (never) to 5 (always), with an N/A option. Scores are reported as means rather than sums: an overall core mean, a mean for each of the four dimensions, and a secondary symptoms mean. Items marked N/A are left out of the mean.

BAT-23 total mean	Interpretation
Below 2.59	No risk of burnout
2.59–3.01	At risk for burnout
3.02–5.00	Severe burnout likely; further clinical evaluation

Interpreting the result

The cut-offs come from Schaufeli and colleagues (2023, Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health), using pooled Dutch, Flemish and Finnish samples. The tool also lists subscale cut-offs (at risk / severe): exhaustion 3.06 / 3.31, mental distance 2.10 / 3.30, cognitive impairment 2.70 / 3.10, and emotional impairment 2.30 / 2.90. These were derived for the work-related BAT-23 and should be applied with caution to the general version. Elevated scores warrant further clinical evaluation within a full assessment.

What the report includes

The copied plain-text report gives the version used, the date, the overall core mean with its interpretation, each dimension mean with the number of items answered, the secondary symptom means, every item response, the cut-offs, and the 2019 test manual reference. A bar chart shows the six domain means on screen, and print buttons produce blank paper copies of the work and general forms.