2017 HSC Section 2 - Practice Management

Reprinted by permission of Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2012; 146(2):234-239.

Original Research—General Otolaryngology

Otolaryngology– Head and Neck Surgery 146(2) 234–239 American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck

Factors Correlating with Burnout in Practicing Otolaryngologists

Surgery Foundation 2012 Reprints and permission:

sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0194599811428585 http://otojournal.org

Aaron M. Fletcher, MD 1 , Nitin Pagedar, MD 1 , and Richard J. H. Smith, MD 1

Received August 27, 2011; revised October 10, 2011; accepted October 12, 2011. T he syndrome of physician burnout is a serious problem in modern health care. Because of its many potential impacts on the health care landscape, burnout has become one of the most commonly analyzed manifestations of stress in physicians. Recent studies have attempted to quantify and characterize burnout in many medical and surgical subspe- cialties. 1-4 In the field of otolaryngology–head and neck sur- gery, several studies have begun to examine the myriad contributory factors that lead to burnout in residents, 5,6 aca- demic faculty, 7 academic chairpersons, 8 and subspecialists. 9 These studies have started to demonstrate the critical role that personal and professional-related stressors play in the develop- ment of burnout. Many of these stressors are potentially modi- fiable. As such, attempts to understand how these stressors correlate with burnout are of paramount importance to reduc- ing the incidence of this phenomenon. Herein we report the results of a study that attempts to quantify demographic and practice characteristics that correlate with burnout in practicing otolaryngologists. Burnout is a syndrome characterized by a high degree of emotional exhaustion (EE) and depersonalization (DP) and a low degree of personal accomplishment (PA). 10 The most commonly used and rigorously validated instrument for mea- suring burnout is the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Human Services Study (MBI-HSS). The MBI-HSS measures each of these 3 aspects of burnout on a subscale related to the fre- quency of their occurrence. The EE subscale measures feel- ings that result from being emotionally overextended or exhausted by one’s work; the DP subscale measures cynicism and callous responses toward recipients of one’s service, care, treatment, or instruction; and the PA subscale assesses feelings of satisfaction with one’s job-related achievements. Numeric scores are generated; however, there is no particular

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Abstract Objective. This study sought to determine which demo- graphic and practice characteristics were predictive of pro- fessional burnout in otolaryngologists.

Study Design. Cross-sectional survey.

Setting. Tertiary care hospital.

Subjects and Methods. Postal mailings, including the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), were sent to alumni of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics otolaryngology pro- gram. Participants completed the MBI according to the enclosed instructions. In addition, they answered a brief questionnaire comprising 8 items designed to collect demo- graphic information. The MBI was then scored and subjects were classified according to their degree of burnout. Statistical analysis was then performed, and correlations were used to summarize associations between continuous variables. Results. This study had a response rate of 49% to the survey. Of the respondents, 3.5% met criteria for burnout syndrome, and 16% were classified as having high levels of burnout according to the MBI. Young age, number of hours worked per week, and length of time in practice were found to be statistically significant predictors of burnout. In addition, the length of time married and the presence of children in the home were also significant predictors of burnout. Conclusion. The authors report an investigation of burnout in practicing otolaryngologists using a validated instrument with correlation to potentially modifiable risk factors. The experience of burnout was found to correlate significantly with both personal and professional factors, each of which can potentially be addressed to curb the incidence of burn- out. Further understanding of the potential risk factors for burnout is necessary to minimize and prevent burnout among practicing otolaryngologists.

1 Department of Otolaryngology, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

Corresponding Author: Richard J. H. Smith, MD, Department of Otolaryngology, UI Hospitals and Clinics, 200 Hawkins Dr, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA Email: richard-smith@uiowa.edu

Keywords burnout, burnout syndrome, practicing otolaryngologist

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