Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI)
19-item burnout inventory with 3 subscales; scores 0-100.
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Introduction
The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) is a 19-item self-report instrument measuring burnout across three domains: personal, work-related, and client-related burnout. It was developed by Kristensen et al. (2005) as a free, open-access alternative to the copyrighted Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI).
The CBI has been validated across many occupations and cultures. Scores are transformed to a 0-100 scale where higher scores indicate higher burnout.
What is the CBI?
The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory comes from Danish occupational health research and asks burnout's key question — “how exhausted and worn out do you feel?” — in three separate spheres: personal burnout (your general state), work-related burnout (as attributed to your work), and client-related burnout (as attributed to caring for or dealing with other people). Each sphere is scored separately from 0 to 100.
How the questionnaire works
You answer statements about tiredness, exhaustion, and how you attribute them — some questions ask explicitly whether your exhaustion relates to your work or to the people you help. Answer for your situation in recent weeks, not one extreme day. The three sphere scores are computed independently, which usually takes only a few minutes.
How to read your results
The three scores are independent, and the pattern between them is the real information: someone can be personally depleted while loving their work, or fine in themselves while work drains them. There is no official clinical cutoff for the CBI — interpret the numbers as continua, not pass/fail grades. The most informative use is to compare the three spheres with each other and to compare yourself over time.
What the CBI cannot do
The CBI is a self-report questionnaire; it cannot diagnose burnout, and burnout itself is classified as an occupational phenomenon rather than a disease. High scores overlap with, but are not the same as, depression or physical illness. Nothing here is uploaded — the results are for your own reflection and decisions.
References
- Kristensen, T.S., Borritz, M., Villadsen, E., & Christensen, K.B. (2005). The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory: A new tool for the assessment of burnout. Work & Stress, 19(3), 192-207. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02678370500297720
Frequently Asked Questions
Have another question? Let us know.
What is the difference between the three scales?
Personal burnout is about your general physical and psychological exhaustion. Work-related burnout asks how much of it you attribute to your work. Client-related burnout asks the same about caring for or dealing with people — relevant in teaching, healthcare, service, and care work.
Is there a score that means I have burnout?
No official clinical cutoff exists. Some workplaces use informal rules of thumb, but research supports treating the scores as continua. Rising scores over time, or a large gap between spheres, is more meaningful than any single number.
What is the difference between burnout and depression?
They overlap in exhaustion and loss of motivation, but depression colors all of life and includes symptoms burnout does not require, such as persistently low mood independent of context. Burnout is tied to its sources — work, clients, care. Only a professional can distinguish them reliably.
Can burnout get better?
Usually, yes — because burnout is tied to its conditions, changing those conditions (workload, recovery, boundaries, values) tends to help. If exhaustion persists despite changes, or deepens, involving a professional is a sensible next step rather than a last resort.
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