Physician Heal Thyself: Perspectives on Burnout among Doctors (original) (raw)
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Physician's Burnout Rate at King Edward Medical University: A Cross Sectional Survey
Aim: To determine the level of job burnout according to its three dimensions among physicians in Mayo hospital, Lahore. Method: This cross sectional study was conducted in Mayo hospital, Lahore. Seventy physicians were approached using non probability, convenient sampling. Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to collect the data, which comprises of 36 points. Result: In this study the data was collected from 74 doctors among them 65(87.8%) were male and 9(12.2%) were female. 18(24.3%) were aged between 25-34 years, 22(29.7%) were 35-44 years old, 24(32.4%) were aged between 45-54 years and 10(13.5%) were more than 55years old. On an average most of the subjects feels burnout A few times in a month. Gender was not associated with the burnout (p-value 0.782), so as living status (p-value 0.371), working position (p-value 0.231), cigarette smoking status (p-value 0.512) and wish to go abroad for work (p-value 0.524) but salary satisfaction levels were found associated with burn out. Conclusion: Among the doctors the burnout was lying between moderate to mild.
Libyan Journal of Medicine, 2014
Burnout is a common syndrome seen in healthcare workers, particularly physicians who are exposed to a high level of stress at work; it includes emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment. Burnout among physicians has garnered significant attention because of the negative impact it renders on patient care and medical personnel. Physicians who had high burnout levels reportedly committed more medical errors. Stress management programs that range from relaxation to cognitive-behavioral and patientcentered therapy have been found to be of utmost significance when it comes to preventing and treating burnout. However, evidence is insufficient to support that stress management programs can help reducing jobrelated stress beyond the intervention period, and similarly mindfulness-based stress reduction interventions efficiently reduce psychological distress and negative vibes, and encourage empathy while significantly enhancing physicians' quality of life. On the other hand, a few small studies have suggested that Balint sessions can have a promising positive effect in preventing burnout; moreover exercises can reduce anxiety levels and exhaustion symptoms while improving the mental and physical well-being of healthcare workers. Occupational interventions in the work settings can also improve the emotional and work-induced exhaustion. Combining both individual and organizational interventions can have a good impact in reducing burnout scores among physicians; therefore, multidisciplinary actions that include changes in the work environmental factors along with stress management programs that teach people how to cope better with stressful events showed promising solutions to manage burnout. However, until now there have been no rigorous studies to prove this. More interventional research targeting medical students, residents, and practicing physicians are needed in order to improve psychological well-being, professional careers, as well as the quality of care provided to patients.
Burnout syndrome among physicians: the role of socio-demographic characteristics
Dusunen Adam: The Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences
Burnout syndrome among physicians: the role of socio-demographic characteristics Objective: Burnout is a syndrome that occurs in occupational groups, which are in close relation with people and includes dimensions of; emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and low sense of personal accomplishment. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and burnout syndrome in academic personel working at a hospital of Faculty of Medicine. Method: 258 physicians working at Baskent University Ankara Hospital have been included in the present study voluntarily, between January-April 2014 and they have been administered Socio-Demographic Data Form and Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results: Age, academic title, time span in the profession and at the institution, the number of patients daily examined, administrative tasks, receiving research supports, the number of lectures given were related to all dimensions of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Personnel assignment, the number of monthly shifts, daily duration of work were related to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Specialty preferences and intention to continue on the profession were associated with emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment. Personnel assignment criteria and time reserved for academic study were related to only emotional exhaustion whereas accessibility to scientific literature was linked to personal accomplishment. Conclusion: Older age, having an academic title, longer time span in the profession and at the institution, concidering the long term consequences of specialty selection are all individual factors that can be related to burnout syndrome. Developing health policies for an optimal organization of daily work duration, number of patients daily examined and personnel assignment criteria could prevent burnout. Also developing organizational climate to create time for academic study, supporting researches, increasing accessibility to scientific literature and optimization of education seminars in academic physicians could protect them from burnout syndrome. Prospective studies modeling individual and organizational risk factors for burnout on academic physicians will help to further illuminate the measures to protect physicians from burnout syndrome and also contribute to the enhancement of treatment service quality and foster the contribution to academic arena.
Биомедицинска истраживања, 2019
Introduction. Burnout syndrome is a common problem among healthcare workers. The aim of the study was to investigate the level of stress, components of burnout syndrome and the most common causes of workplace stress among the physicians working in the Primary Health Care Center Banja Luka, after which the obtained results concerning family physicians and the physicians of other specialties were compared. Methods. The observational study was conducted by interviewing physicians during the period March to May 2018. All employed physicians were provided with the following questionnaires: The socio-demographic questionnaire, The questionnaire for self-assessment of the level of stress, The questionnaire about the most frequent causes of stress at work and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results. The study included 211 physicians, out of a total of 246 physicians (127 family physicians and 84 physicians of other specialties) working in the Primary Health Care Center Banja Luka. There was a significantly higher level of stress (p = 0.011), emotional exhaustion (p < 0.001) and depersonalization (p < 0.001) among family physicians compared to the physicians of other specialties. There was a significant difference in the presence of all causes of stress among family physicians, except the stress concerning the patients requiring emergency care. The multivariate logistic regression analysis found that stress was significantly associated with emotional exhaustion in both groups and with personal accomplishment in family physicians. In family physicians, there was a significant association between a high level of depersonalization and personal accomplishment. In physicians of other specialties significant association was found between education and emotional exhaustion as well as personal accomplishment, and between female gender and high level of depersonalization. Conclusion. The level of stress and the burnout syndrome were considerably more present in family physicians compared to physicians of other specialties.
Stress and burnout among doctors
Bhopal, 2015
Occupational stress is increasingly faced by doctors. Upto some extent, stress improves performance but when excessive, it becomes harmful. Doctors have more stress related mental health problems than general population. Burnout is inability to cope with emotional stress at work. It consists of 3 domains; emotional exhaustion, depersonalization & lack of personal accomplishment. Various models like demand-control imbalance, effort-reward imbalance & support model explain evolution of work related stress. Common causes of stress are related to patient care, decision making, taking responsibility, increasing use of technology, continuing rises in health care costs, turbulence within work environment, long working hours & overworking. Stress causes physical symptoms, mental derangements, emotional & behavioural disturbances. Research suggests that high stress levels may impair immune system with increased risk of cardiovascular disease & cancer. Stress can be modified by appropriate stress management skills like avoiding cynicism, reading, joining a support group, attending a wellness conference, strengthening communication skills, addressing to spiritual needs, meditation & decreasing caffeine. Burnout prevention should be done both on both personal & organizational levels. Appropriate interventions like improving inter-professional relationships, changes in work environment, modifying off duty time & streamlining decision making should be done to mitigate the effect of stress on doctors.
International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 2022
Background: Practice of medicine is associated with a high level of occupational stress and burnout. Residents face lot of stress because of the workload and heavy duties as well as a large volume of scientific literature and practical tasks which must be learnt in a limited time. Very few studies from India have evaluated psychological issues, stress, and burnout among medical professionals with few studies focusing on resident doctors. Methods: The invitation link of the survey in the form of Google forms was sent to all residents working in the institute. Although the survey was kept anonymous, personal details relating to the participant's demographics, academic qualifications, working hours was recorded. The Copenhagen burnout inventory (CBI) scale was utilized to assess the prevalence of burnout. The data obtained were analysed using SPSS-20.0. Results: The average age of respondents was 28 years. The 48.8% (77) residents work for 41-60 hours/week while 57.59% (91) residents have <2 years of experience in government hospital. The 39.24% (62) had the scores that indicate the total burnout. it was found that personal burnout scores, work related burnout scores and personal burnout scores are comparatively higher in 1st year of residency as compared to 2 nd and 3 rd year of residency. Overall burnout in 1 st year residents was significantly high compared to 2 nd and 3 rd year residents. Conclusions: Burnout syndrome was significantly high among resident doctors. Attention should be directed to identifying the symptoms of burnout syndrome and addressing them through strategies on various levels.
What are the significant factors associated with burnout in doctors?
Occupational medicine (Oxford, England), 2015
Burnout syndrome is well established as a condition that affects a significant proportion of practising doctors. Although much literature exists on the prevalence of burnout, only specific variables associated with this condition have been analysed. To identify and categorize key factors that are associated with burnout across various medical specialities and geographical locations. Three electronic databases were searched for literature on the factors associated with burnout published in the past 5 years. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied in three stages. We analysed and critically appraised each paper individually, identifying the common themes. Forty-seven papers were included from the 395 identified by our primary search. Younger age, female sex, negative marital status, long working hours and low reported job satisfaction were found to be predictive of burnout syndrome across the literature. Participation in 'wellness programmes' was related to lower burnout...
Burnout among faculty physicians in an academic health science centre
Paediatrics & child health, 2011
Burnout experienced by physicians is concerning because it may affect quality of care. To determine the frequency of burnout among physicians at an academic health science centre and to test the hypothesis that work hours are related to burnout. All 300 staff physicians, contacted through their personal e-mail, were provided an encrypted link to an anonymous questionnaire. The primary outcome measure, the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, has three subscales: personal, work related and patient related. The response rate for the questionnaire was 70%. Quantitative demands, insecurity at work and job satisfaction affected all three components of burnout. Of 210 staff physicians, 22% (n=46) had scores indicating personal burnout, 14% (n=30) had scores indicating work-related burnout and 8% (n=16) had scores indicating patient-related burnout. The correlation between total hours worked and total burnout was only 0.10 (P=0.14) Up to 22% of academic paediatric physicians had scores consistent...
Introduction: Burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions: 1) Feelings of exhaustion, 2) Increased mental distance from one's job, or feelings of negativism related to one's job; and 3) Reduced professional efficacy. Emotional exhaustion includes feeling "used up" at the end of a workday. Depersonalization includes feelings of treating patients as objects and becoming more uncaring towards patients. A sense of reduced personal accomplishment encompasses feelings of ineffectiveness in helping patients and a lack of value of the results of professional activities such as patient care or professional achievements. Burnout is distinct from other related constructs such as job dissatisfaction, fatigue, occupational stress and depression. Although burnout correlates with these problems, it may be present in their absence or absent in their presence. Results: The total number of doctors enrolled in the study was 100 Physicians working in Ibrahim Malik Teaching Hospital as of October 2020. Most of the participants were female doctors, reaching up to 72% in comparison to 28% male doctors. Most of the participants belonged to the ER department, whereas the least belonged to the orthopaedic department. The majority of participants were house officers (42%) and the least were specialists (4%). Overall, all female doctors were found to have a variable risk of burnout, which ranged from moderate to severe. The highest degree of burnout that female doctors suffered from was within the "Serious" parameter (50.1%-75%), and the lowest belongs to the "severe" parameter (75%-100%). Unlike their counterparts, not all male doctors suffered from burnout, 4% having recorded exhibiting none-mild burnout symptoms. In male doctors' burnout, the majority belonged to the "serious (50.1%-75%)" parameter and the lowest belonged to the "non-mild (0%-25%)" and "severe (75.1%-100%)" parameters, which were 67%, 4% and 4% respectively. In male and female physician burnout, males recorded 4% (lowest) in the "non-mild", while females recorded a 0%. Female doctors scored a higher "serious burnout" (68%) than male doctors (67%). Both male and female doctors had similar record of the lowest percentage being the "severe" parameter (4%). Among professional levels, the highest percentage of burnout manifested in GPs (Medical Officers) (60%) and the lowest was seen in consultants (45.20%). In specialties, the highest percentage belongs to doctors working in the ER department (81%) and lowest belongs to the Surgery department (52%). In general, most physicians were within the "serious" parameter (68%) and the lowest belongs to "none-mild" parameter (1%). Personal accomplishment was most affected in general practitioners (38.12%) and least affected in consultants (35.28%). Emotional exhaustion was most prevalent in specialists (39%) and less affected in house-officers (35.69%). Depersonalization was the highest in consultants (27.70%) and lowest in specialists (24.30%). Male doctors were the most affected in their feeling of low personal accomplishment (49%) and emotional exhaustion (42%), in opposition to female doctors, who recorded (38%) and (36%) respectively. However, female doctors had a higher percentage of depersonalization (26%) than male doctors (9%). Emotional exhaustion was the highest in ICU (37.83%) and the lowest in orthopedic doctors (32.89%). Personal accomplishment was the highest in orthopedics (40.79%) and the lowest in OB/GYN doctors (36.38%). Depersonalization was the highest in OB/GYN (27.12%) and the lowest in ICU doctors (25.7%). Conclusion: In conclusion, our study showed that burn out is highly prevalent among Ibrahim Malik hospital doctors (68 %), while female doctors had a higher degree burnout than males. Among the different professional levels, the highest percentage of burnout belonged to GPs and the lowest belonged to consultant's .ER doctors suffered the most from burnout, whereas surgeons suffered the least. Several factors attributing to the burnout symptoms of these doctors have been identified. The first factor being personal accomplishment, which was the most affected factor in general practitioners and the least affected in consultants. Emotional exhaustion was the highest in specialist and the least in house-officers. Depersonalization was the highest in consultants and the least in specialists. In terms of the risk factors accrediting to burnout in terms of gender, our results concluded that males got a higher percentage of low personal accomplishment and emotional exhaustion than females. Meanwhile, females scored a higher percentage of depersonalization than males. In regards to the risk factors affecting the different specialties, results have shown that emotional exhaustion was the most affected in ICU doctors and least affected in orthopedic doctors. Low personal accomplishment was the highest in orthopedics and the lowest in OB/GYN. Depersonalization, was the highest in OB/GYN and the lowest in ICU. Finally, the prevalence of symptoms of Burnout Syndrome among doctors employed at Ibrahim Malik Teaching Hospital in October 2020 was found to be very high, constituting a pressing challenge that needs to be met by organizations, individuals and society at large. Recommendations: Further, large-scaled researches particular high equality studies are needed to broaden the understanding of the burnout syndrome. Target intervention at work place should be considered as one of the strategies to reduce negative impact of burn out. Interventions ranging from work health and mental health education to policy changes should be considered, as the knowledge of the existence of burnout syndrome was noticed to be low among physicians while distributing the paper questionnaire. Physicians and other healthcare providers should cooperate with and seek the identification of the risk and degree of burnout among themselves. Allotting a large time period to data collection.