Editors' note: Age and sex differences in burnout, career satisfaction, and well-being in US neurologists

Abstract

In the article “Age and sex differences in burnout, career satisfaction, and well-being in US neurologists,” LaFaver et al. quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed responses to a 2016 survey of US neurologists (1,091 men and 580 women) and found that emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, fatigue, and overall quality of life generally became more favorable among older neurologists despite initial worsening of some of these variables with age. Whereas more women than men met burnout criteria, sex was not an independent predictor of the variables studied after adjusting for age. Women neurologists provided more negative comments regarding workload, work-life balance, leadership, deterioration of professionalism, and erosion of their academic mission by productivity demands. In response, Philip et al. postulate that life experience may mitigate burnout by fostering appreciation for relatively favorable aspects of the profession. They also note the importance of understanding how individual differences in reported factors such as age or sex and understudied aspects such as psychological makeup contribute to differences in professional outcomes, even within similar systems or cultures. In their reply, the authors agree that understanding both external and individual factors associated with burnout can facilitate the design of helpful interventions. They add that lower burnout among older neurologists may also relate to them cutting back clinical responsibilities or to loss of the most burned-out older neurologists from clinical practice. Highlighting the potential dangers of overgeneralizations regarding this issue based on demographic factors, they urge advocacy and action toward better coaching and mentoring for physicians and a more flexible view of work schedules and allocation of needed resources as feasible. In the article “Age and sex differences in burnout, career satisfaction, and well-being in US neurologists,” LaFaver et al. quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed responses to a 2016 survey of US neurologists (1,091 men and 580 women) and found that emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, fatigue, and overall quality of life generally became more favorable among older neurologists despite initial worsening of some of these variables with age. Whereas more women than men met burnout criteria, sex was not an independent predictor of the variables studied after adjusting for age. Women neurologists provided more negative comments regarding workload, work-life balance, leadership, deterioration of professionalism, and erosion of their academic mission by productivity demands. In response, Philip et al. postulate that life experience may mitigate burnout by fostering appreciation for relatively favorable aspects of the profession. They also note the importance of understanding how individual differences in reported factors such as age or sex and understudied aspects such as psychological makeup contribute to differences in professional outcomes, even within similar systems or cultures. In their reply, the authors agree that understanding both external and individual factors associated with burnout can facilitate the design of helpful interventions. They add that lower burnout among older neurologists may also relate to them cutting back clinical responsibilities or to loss of the most burned-out older neurologists from clinical practice. Highlighting the potential dangers of overgeneralizations regarding this issue based on demographic factors, they urge advocacy and action toward better coaching and mentoring for physicians and a more flexible view of work schedules and allocation of needed resources as feasible.