Physicians experiencing burnout twice as likely to be involved in patient safety incidents

Key takeaways

• In addition to patient safety incidents, physicians suffering from burnout were also four times as likely to be dissatisfied with their job and three times as likely to consider quitting.
• Researchers concluded that more investment strategies for monitoring and preventing burnout are needed to ensure better patient treatment and a stronger workforce.

Physicians suffering from burnout were twice as likely to be involved in patient safety incidents and four times more likely to see a decrease in job satisfaction, a new study published in The BMJ found.

“Physicians with burnout often report poor work-life balance and career dissatisfaction,” Alexander Hodkinson, MD, a senior research fellow in the Centre for Primary Care at the University of Manchester, and colleagues wrote. “However, previous systematic reviews that focused on the potential effects of physician burnout on healthcare efficiency have overlooked the association of burnout with career engagement of physicians.”

Hodkinson and colleagues reviewed 170 organizational studies comprised of 239,246 physicians, who are “twice as likely to experience burnout than any other worker, including other health care professionals,” they wrote.

Among the physicians, the median age was 42 years. Among the studies that reported sex data, 66% included mostly male physicians. In terms of specialty, 25% of studies examined mixed specialties, while 18% focused on internal medicine.

In addition to an increase in patient safety incidents (OR = 2.04; 95% CI, 1.69-2.45), Hodkinson and colleagues reported that physicians experiencing burnout were:

• four times more likely to be dissatisfied with their jobs (OR = 3.79; 95% CI, 3.24-4.43);
• three times more likely to consider quitting their position (OR = 3.1; 95% CI, 2.3-4.17);
• three times more likely to regret their career choices (OR = 3.49; 95% CI, 2.43-5); and
• two times more likely to show low professionalism (OR = 2.33; 95% CI, 1.96-2.7).

The researchers noted a stronger association of overall burnout with low job satisfaction in physicians working in hospitals, as opposed to those in a primary care setting.

The age of physicians was also a reoccurring factor in burnout ramifications. Physicians aged 50 years and older were more likely to experience job dissatisfaction than those aged 31 to 50 years.

Younger physicians, meanwhile, were more likely to be involved in patient safety incidents and demonstrate low professionalism. Speaking to Healio, Hodkinson said the latter finding was “a bit unexpected,” as older physicians were anticipated to have lower professionalism due to them being closer to retirement.

The researchers acknowledged interventions in place, including those that target organizational cultures and support individual physicians through organization-funded initiatives, could be a critical tactic towards burnout prevention and mitigation.

“Previous collaborative work has found that daily coffee breaks, increasing self- and organizational awareness of the risks of burnout, and mentoring or buddy systems do work well,” Hodkinson said.

The researchers noted several limitations to the study, which included variations of outcome definitions regarding patient safety, job satisfaction and professionalism, as well as considerable variation in the tools and questionnaires used to assess outcomes.

Hodkinson and colleagues concluded that due to the impact burnout has on physician workforces and mentalities, as well as patient safety, “investment strategies that can monitor and improve physician burnout are needed.”

References:

• Clinicians suffering burnout are twice as likely to be involved in patient safety incidents. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/964552. Published Sept. 14, 2022. Accessed Sept. 15, 2022.
• Hodkinson A, et al. BMJ. 2022;doi:378:e070442.