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A One-Year Institutional View of Resident Physician Burnout

  • Empirical Report
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Abstract

Objectives

This prospective study explores the prevalence, associated characteristics, and trajectory of burnout over one academic year in a multidisciplinary sample of resident physicians using a relatively new burnout survey instrument.

Methods

All residents from a U.S. academic health center (n = 633) were invited to complete the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) three times, with 4-month time lags between invitations. A total of 281 (44%) provided complete CBI survey responses at least once, and 43 (7%) did at all three times. Descriptive statistics, cross-sectional analyses, correlations, and multivariable linear regression analyses were computed, as well as repeated measures ANOVAs and paired t tests, as appropriate, for each CBI domain (personal, work, patient-related burnout).

Results

About half had CBI scores indicating moderate-to-high levels of personal burnout (49–52%) and work-related burnout (45–49%), whereas patient-related burnout was less common (14–24%). However, patient-related burnout increased significantly from the beginning to the end of the year. Regression analyses indicated patient-related burnout was significantly higher for postgraduate year 1–2 residents compared to PGY 4+ residents, but was not significantly different by gender. Personal and work burnout scores were significantly higher for females. Persistently high burnout was observed in only 6% of respondents.

Conclusions

In this study of resident physicians using the CBI, burnout was prevalent and higher levels of burnout were observed for females on the personal and work burnout domains, while junior residents had higher patient-related burnout. Persistently, high burnout was rare. The CBI demonstrated high reliability, was practical to administer, and produced similar results with existing burnout research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

    Carol R. Thrush, J. Benjamin Guise, Molly M. Gathright, Erick Messias, Victoria Flynn, Toby Belknap, Purushottam B. Thapa, D. Keith Williams & James A. Clardy

  2. University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA

    Eman M. Nada

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  1. Carol R. Thrush
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carol R. Thrush.

Ethics declarations

Survey respondents consented to the study after reading written informed consent information and responding to an item indicating they wished to participate in the study.

Disclosures

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

IRB approval from the institution was obtained, Protocol #203068.

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Thrush, C.R., Guise, J.B., Gathright, M.M. et al. A One-Year Institutional View of Resident Physician Burnout. Acad Psychiatry 43, 361–368 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-019-01043-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-019-01043-9

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