A New BOS: Burnout Syndrome in Lung Transplant Physicians

Abstract

Burnout is common in all types of physicians, but little is known about burnout in lung transplant physicians. The purpose of this study was to explore burnout and its relationship to job factors and depression in lung transplant physicians. We conducted a cross-sectional study in September 2019 of lung transplant pulmonologists and surgeons worldwide. The survey included demographic and job characteristics, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), a screening tool for depression. The MBI included assessment of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA). Ninety lung transplantation pulmonologists and surgeons completed the survey. Physicians completing the survey were predominantly male (80%), pulmonologists (84.4%), and from the United States (73.3%). High emotional exhaustion is present in 42.2% of physicians, while high depersonalization was present in 15.6% and low personal accomplishment in 21.1%. Depression was present in 15.6% of responders. There was significant association between emotional exhaustion score and total score on the PHQ-2 (ρ=0.72, p<0.001). Gender, transplant volume, type of job, age, and call hours were not associated with differences in burnout. There was significantly greater emotional exhaustion in physicians with more years of experience (p=0.013). Greater time spent in the clinical care of lung transplantation patients was associated with a higher EE score (ρ=0.28, p=0.008), while greater time spent in teaching/education was associated with a lower EE score (ρ=-0.32, p=0.006). Those responders with high emotional exhaustion were more likely to find their job had a negative impact on their lives (p<0.001). Emotional exhaustion is common in lung transplant physicians and is associated with depression and a negative impact on life. More experienced transplant physicians have higher emotional exhaustion than less experienced physicians. More information is needed to determine if certain characteristics such as resilience allow retention in the field of lung transplantation despite high burnout levels.