What does the CBI measure? Exhaustion at three levels
The CBI measures prolonged physical and psychological exhaustion in three settings: in general (personal burnout), as you connect it to your work (work-related burnout), and as you connect it to working with clients (client-related burnout). [1] It does not measure the causes of exhaustion, or how stressed you feel.
What does each scale cover?
The document defines all three scales in the same way: a state of prolonged physical and psychological exhaustion. What changes is where the exhaustion is seen to come from. For personal burnout, it is not tied to anything. For work-related burnout, it is exhaustion that you perceive as related to your work. For client-related burnout, it is exhaustion that you perceive as related to your work with clients, such as patients, students, children, or inmates. [1]
| Scale | Questions | What it asks about |
|---|---|---|
| Personal burnout | 6 | How often you feel tired, exhausted, worn out, or unable to go on, and how susceptible to illness you feel. [1] |
| Work-related burnout | 7 | Whether your work exhausts or frustrates you, how you feel at the end of the day and in the morning, and whether you have energy left for family and friends. [1] |
| Client-related burnout | 6 | How hard, frustrating, and draining it is to work with clients, and whether you wonder how long you can continue. [1] |
Why does it matter for work stress?
Many people feel tired and cannot tell whether the job is the reason. The CBI gives you two readings to compare. If the work-related score is high and the personal score is not, the tiredness may be concentrated in the job. If both are high, it has spread beyond work, and it may be worth speaking to a doctor as well as looking at the job. That reading is ours, not the document's, so treat it as a way to start a conversation.
How is it different from other burnout questionnaires?
All three CBI scales are defined as exhaustion. The WHO describes burn-out as three parts: exhaustion, mental distance from the job or cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy. [3] The CBI covers the first part in depth. It does not have scales for mental distance or efficacy, which the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Burnout Assessment Tool do cover in different ways.
| Question you have | Page to read |
|---|---|
| How drained or detached do I feel about my job? | Oldenburg Burnout Inventory |
| Is my exhaustion about my work, or about life in general? | CBI (this page) |
| How do exhaustion, cynicism, and efficacy compare? | Maslach Burnout Inventory |
| How do thinking, feeling, and exhaustion symptoms look together? | Burnout Assessment Tool |
| How stressful has the last month felt overall? | PSS-10 |
What does the CBI leave out?
It does not ask about workload, control, support, or any other cause. It does not say whether the exhaustion is burnout, depression, illness, or something else. The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine page notes that burnout is an occupational phenomenon in ICD-11, and describes its version as a self-awareness aid. [2]
What can it add to a conversation?
A concrete comparison. "My work-related exhaustion score is much higher than my personal one" is more useful to a manager or a doctor than "I am worn out." It also gives you numbers to compare if you repeat it later in similar circumstances.
Sources and further reading
These links open external research and health-information websites.
- Borritz and Kristensen (2004): Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Normative data from a representative Danish population on personal burnout, and results from the PUMA study. National Institute of Occupational Health, Copenhagen (first edition, February 2004)
The inventory's own document, hosted by the Danish National Research Centre for the Working Environment: the three parts and their definitions, response categories, scoring, non-responder rules, Danish normative data, and PUMA results. Read on 2 November 2026. - Hong Kong Academy of Medicine: Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (online self-assessment)
An automated online version, made with the consent of the Danish centre. Three scales from 0 to 100, tiered result text, and a note that burnout is an occupational phenomenon in ICD-11. Read on 2 November 2026. - WHO: Burn-out an "occupational phenomenon" (2019)
The ICD-11 definition, the three dimensions, and the statement that it is not classified as a medical condition.
This page is educational. A questionnaire score cannot establish a diagnosis or explain the cause of your symptoms. If you are struggling, speak with a doctor or mental health professional, whatever your score. Read when to get help for work stress or find a helpline in your country.