Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Burnout in Primary Care Physicians in Catalonia.
27 Aug 2021-International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)-Vol. 18, Iss: 17, pp 9031
TL;DR: In this article, a multicentre longitudinal descriptive study of occupational factors and burnout before and since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted to assess the impact of the pandemic on burnout in primary care physicians, two paired groups of physicians were compared using Wilcoxon and McNemar's tests.
Abstract: Background: Recent demands to raise the clinical quality, improve the patient experience, and decrease costs have progressively increased burnout among primary care physicians. This overstretched situation has been greatly aggravated since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study is to analyse the prevalence of burnout among primary care physicians and to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on burnout. Methods: This was a multicentre longitudinal descriptive study of occupational factors and burnout before and since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to assess the impact of the pandemic on burnout in primary care physicians, two paired groups of physicians were compared using Wilcoxon’s and McNemar’s tests. Results: In January 2019, 10% of primary care physicians scored high on all burnout domains. Seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic (October 2020), this percentage increased to 50%. Paired groups analysis showed unprecedented worsening due to the pandemic: emotional exhaustion, which already affected 55% of primary care physicians, jumped to 77%. Conclusions: Burnout is endemic among primary care physicians. It has been associated with lower patient satisfaction, reduced health outcomes, and increased costs. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed burnout in primary care professionals to the edge.
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TL;DR: Assessing the prevalence of burnout among physicians working in the healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic and discovering the main factors associated with burnout syndrome among the population of physicians found the female gender, less experienced, and single marital status were associated with high levels of anxiety, depression, and stress.
17 citations
TL;DR: A French national online cross-sectional survey assessed declared psychological distress among outpatient physicians in private practice linked to COVID-19, sociodemographic and work conditions, mental health (Copenhagen Burn-out Inventory, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Insomnia severity Index), consequences on alcohol, tobacco, and illegal substance misuse, and sick leave during the 2nd COVID19 wave as discussed by the authors .
5 citations
TL;DR: Exposure to a prolonged work time during the pandemic increased the prevalence of Burnout syndrome in military personnel, and insight into the time the military members would need rest to prevent burnout syndrome is provided.
Abstract: There is scant evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on burnout in front-line military personnel and how working time may influence on this condition. We aimed to determine the association between working time and Burnout syndrome in military personnel. A cross-sectional study was conducted using secondary data among 576 military personnel from Lambayeque, Peru during the second wave of COVID-19 in 2021. We used the Maslach Burnout Inventory instrument to measure Burnout Syndrome. We evaluated its association with work time, measured as the number of months that the military member worked during the pandemic. The prevalence of burnout syndrome was 9%. Of the total sample, 39.1% and 10.3% presented depersonalization and emotional exhaustion, respectively. Military personnel working for more than 18 months had a 104% higher prevalence of Burnout syndrome (PR: 2.04, 95%CI: 1.02–4.10). Exposure to a prolonged work time during the pandemic increased the prevalence of Burnout syndrome in military personnel. This information helps to understand the potential effects of the pandemic on this population and provides insight into the time the military members would need rest to prevent Burnout syndrome.
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TL;DR: A cross-sectional study was conducted on medical residents from three different university hospitals in Turkey in March 2021, one year after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Turkey as discussed by the authors .
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TL;DR: A scale designed to assess various aspects of the burnout syndrome was administered to a wide range of human services professionals as discussed by the authors, and three subscales emerged from the data analysis: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment.
Abstract: A scale designed to assess various aspects of the burnout syndrome was administered to a wide range of human services professionals. Three subscales emerged from the data analysis: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. Various psychometric analyses showed that the scale has both high reliability and validity as a measure of burnout.
10,212 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the concept of staff burnout is explored in terms of the physical signs and the behavioral indicators, and a practical section deals with what preventive measures a clinic staff can take to avoid burnout among themselves, and if unluckily it has taken place then what measures may be taken to insure caring for that person, and the possibility of his return to the clinic at some future time.
Abstract: The concept of staff burn-out is explored in terms of the physical signs and the behavioral indicators. There is a discussion of how the cognitive, the judgmental as well as the emotional factors are intruded upon once the process is in motion. Further material deals with who is prone to staff burn-out and what dedication and commitment can imply from both a positive and negative point of view. A practical section deals with what preventive measures a clinic staff can take to avoid burn-out among themselves, and if unluckily it has taken place then what measures may be taken to insure caring for that person, and the possibility of his return to the clinic at some future time.
3,884 citations
TL;DR: There was substantial variability in prevalence estimates of burnout among practicing physicians and marked variation in burnout definitions, assessment methods, and study quality.
Abstract: Importance Burnout is a self-reported job-related syndrome increasingly recognized as a critical factor affecting physicians and their patients An accurate estimate of burnout prevalence among physicians would have important health policy implications, but the overall prevalence is unknown Objective To characterize the methods used to assess burnout and provide an estimate of the prevalence of physician burnout Data Sources and Study Selection Systematic search of EMBASE, ERIC, MEDLINE/PubMed, psycARTICLES, and psycINFO for studies on the prevalence of burnout in practicing physicians (ie, excluding physicians in training) published before June 1, 2018 Data Extraction and Synthesis Burnout prevalence and study characteristics were extracted independently by 3 investigators Although meta-analytic pooling was planned, variation in study designs and burnout ascertainment methods, as well as statistical heterogeneity, made quantitative pooling inappropriate Therefore, studies were summarized descriptively and assessed qualitatively Main Outcomes and Measures Point or period prevalence of burnout assessed by questionnaire Results Burnout prevalence data were extracted from 182 studies involving 109 628 individuals in 45 countries published between 1991 and 2018 In all, 857% (156/182) of studies used a version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to assess burnout Studies variably reported prevalence estimates of overall burnout or burnout subcomponents: 670% (122/182) on overall burnout, 720% (131/182) on emotional exhaustion, 681% (124/182) on depersonalization, and 632% (115/182) on low personal accomplishment Studies used at least 142 unique definitions for meeting overall burnout or burnout subscale criteria, indicating substantial disagreement in the literature on what constituted burnout Studies variably defined burnout based on predefined cutoff scores or sample quantiles and used markedly different cutoff definitions Among studies using instruments based on the MBI, there were at least 47 distinct definitions of overall burnout prevalence and 29, 26, and 26 definitions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment prevalence, respectively Overall burnout prevalence ranged from 0% to 805% Emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment prevalence ranged from 0% to 862%, 0% to 899%, and 0% to 871%, respectively Because of inconsistencies in definitions of and assessment methods for burnout across studies, associations between burnout and sex, age, geography, time, specialty, and depressive symptoms could not be reliably determined Conclusions and Relevance In this systematic review, there was substantial variability in prevalence estimates of burnout among practicing physicians and marked variation in burnout definitions, assessment methods, and study quality These findings preclude definitive conclusions about the prevalence of burnout and highlight the importance of developing a consensus definition of burnout and of standardizing measurement tools to assess the effects of chronic occupational stress on physicians
978 citations
TL;DR: Adverse workflow (time pressure and chaotic environments), low work control, and unfavorable organizational culture were strongly associated with low physician satisfaction, high stress, burnout, and intent to leave, and no associations were seen between adverse physician reactions and the quality of patient care.
Abstract: Linzer and colleagues assessed the relationship among adverse primary care work conditions, adverse physician reactions, and quality of patient care. Among 422 family practitioners and general inte...
436 citations
TL;DR: While high levels of job support and workplace justice were protective for emotional exhaustion, high demands, low job control, high work load, low reward and job insecurity increased the risk for developing exhaustion.
Abstract: Practitioners and decision makers in the medical and insurance systems need knowledge on the relationship between work exposures and burnout. Many burnout studies – original as well as reviews - restricted their analyses to emotional exhaustion or did not report results on cynicism, personal accomplishment or global burnout. To meet this need we carried out this review and meta-analyses with the aim to provide systematically graded evidence for associations between working conditions and near-future development of burnout symptoms. A wide range of work exposure factors was screened. Inclusion criteria were: 1) Study performed in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand 1990–2013. 2) Prospective or comparable case control design. 3) Assessments of exposure (work) and outcome at baseline and at least once again during follow up 1–5 years later. Twenty-five articles met the predefined relevance and quality criteria. The GRADE-system with its 4-grade evidence scale was used. Most of the 25 studies focused emotional exhaustion, fewer cynicism and still fewer personal accomplishment. Moderately strong evidence (grade 3) was concluded for the association between job control and reduced emotional exhaustion and between low workplace support and increased emotional exhaustion. Limited evidence (grade 2) was found for the associations between workplace justice, demands, high work load, low reward, low supervisor support, low co-worker support, job insecurity and change in emotional exhaustion. Cynicism was associated with most of these work factors. Reduced personal accomplishment was only associated with low reward. There were few prospective studies with sufficient quality on adverse chemical, biological and physical factors and burnout. While high levels of job support and workplace justice were protective for emotional exhaustion, high demands, low job control, high work load, low reward and job insecurity increased the risk for developing exhaustion. Our approach with a wide range of work exposure factors analysed in relation to the separate dimensions of burnout expanded the knowledge of associations, evidence as well as research needs. The potential of organizational interventions is illustrated by the findings that burnout symptoms are strongly influenced by structural factors such as job demands, support and the possibility to exert control.
428 citations