Physician-Specific Symptoms of Burnout Compared to a Non-Physicians Group.
Hermanas Usas, Sonja Weilenmann, Mary Princip, Walther J Fuchs, Marc van Nuffel, Roland von Känel, Tobias R Spiller
Author Information
Hermanas Usas: Department of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich (USZ), Haldenbachstrasse 16/18, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland. ORCID
Sonja Weilenmann: Department of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich (USZ), Haldenbachstrasse 16/18, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland. ORCID
Mary Princip: Department of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich (USZ), Haldenbachstrasse 16/18, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
Marc van Nuffel: Burnout Protector GmbH, CH-8700 Küsnacht, Switzerland.
Roland von Känel: Department of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich (USZ), Haldenbachstrasse 16/18, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland. ORCID
Tobias R Spiller: Department of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich (USZ), Haldenbachstrasse 16/18, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland. ORCID
Physician burnout is a systemic problem in health care due to its high prevalence and its negative impact on professional functioning and individual well-being. While unique aspects of the physician role contributing to the development burnout have been investigated recently, it is currently unclear whether burnout manifests differently in physicians compared to the non-physician working population. We conducted an individual symptom analysis of burnout symptoms comparing a large sample of physicians with a non-physician group. In this cross-sectional online study, burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey. We matched physicians with non-physicians regarding their age, gender, educational level, occupational status, and total burnout level using a "nearest neighbour matching" procedure. We then conducted a series of between-groups comparisons. Data of 3846 (51.0% women) participants including 641 physicians and 3205 non-physicians were analysed. The most pronounced difference was that physicians were more satisfied with their work performance (medium effect size (r = 0.343). Our findings indicate minor yet significant differences in burnout phenomenology between physicians and non-physicians. This demonstrates unique aspects of physician burnout and implies that such differences should be considered in occupational research among physicians, particularly when developing burnout prevention programs for physicians.
