Abstract
IntroductionIn previous studies, physicians have been identified as a high-risk group for burnout.Although the work environment has received more attention than specific determinants of personality traits, the latter might contribute to burnout.Study objective.We aimed to investigate the association of Type D personality, job and organizational determinants with burnout, stress and work engagement as outcome factors among emergency physicians and hospital physicians working in intensive care and surgery departments.We specifically focused on our group of emergency physicians.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, self-report questionnaires were distributed via social media using a specific survey link to 531 Belgian hospital physicians working at the Emergency Department, Intensive Care, and Surgery Department between October 21, 2018, and April 11, 2019. The survey instrument included questions about sociodemographic characteristics, job characteristics, organizational factors, job satisfaction, social support by supervisors and colleagues (Leiden Quality of Work Questionnaire for Medical Doctors) and Type D personality (Distress Scale-14) and as outcomes burnout (Oldenburg Burnout Inventory) and work engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale). A multiple regression analysis was used to examine the associations between the determinants and each of the outcomes with emergency physicians as the study population.ResultsEligible data were available for 436 questionnaires and involved 212 emergency physicians, 162 other hospital physicians (Intensive Care and Surgery Department) and 62 residents concerning both groups of physicians. Type D personality ranged from 28.5 to 29.1% in emergency physicians and other hospital physicians. Additionally, even after correcting for job-related and organizational factors, emergency physicians with Type D personality were seven times more likely to have a high risk for burnout.ConclusionAs a result, this study offers a new perspective on the associations between burnout, stress and Type D personality. Type D personality might be a personality-related risk factor for burnout among emergency physicians. Therefore, we recommend enhanced prevention measures that take into account this individual factor in the further development of coaching programs. Improving the professional well-being of emergency physicians is necessary, especially in the scope of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which has put a high demand on acute and emergency care departments.
Highlights
In previous studies, physicians have been identified as a high-risk group for burnout
Physician burnout has reached epidemic levels, with studies demonstrating prevalence ranging from 43.9% to near 54%. (Dyrbye et al 2008; Shanafelt et al 2009, 2015; West et al 2011) In particular, emergency physicians are at risk because of emotional, physical and intellectual challenges. (Arora et al 2013) Burnout was defined by Maslach et al as a psychological syndrome that has three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment. (Maslach et al 2008) In some studies, a clear significant relationship between observed patient outcomes and physician burnout was found. (Mangory et al 2021) Several pathogenic work-related factors have been identified in the course of burnout (Schonfeld et al 2018), yet personality traits were found to moderate the relationship between work-related factors and burnout (Geuens et al 2017)
We aimed to investigate the association between Type D personality and burnout in emergency physicians and compare this personality trait with hospital physicians working in intensive care and surgery departments
Summary
Physicians have been identified as a high-risk group for burnout. We aimed to investigate the association of Type D personality, job and organizational determinants with burnout, stress and work engagement as outcome factors among emergency physicians and hospital physicians working in intensive care and surgery departments. Even after correcting for job-related and organizational factors, emergency physicians with Type D personality were seven times more likely to have a high risk for burnout. A wide range of studies have been conducted on work-related and organizational factors and highlighted the working relationship between physicians and nursing staff, ED supervisors, and hospital management (Doef 1999; Doef and Maes 1999). All physicians in the ED are exposed to the same job-related and organizational factors, individual characteristics such as personality traits of the physicians may play a crucial role in the development of burnout (Wal et al 2018)
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