Factors related to burnout in resident physicians in Japan.

Hitomi Kataoka,Tomoko Miyoshi,Yoshito Nishimura,Fumio Otsuka,Hiroko Ogawa,Mikako Obika

doi:10.5116/ijme.5caf.53ad

Hitomi Kataoka, Tomoko Miyoshi + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5116/ijme.5caf.53ad

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Abstract

ObjectivesWe explore the prevalence and characteristics of burnout among Japanese resident physicians and identifies factors associated with burnout. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted three times between April 2017 and March 2018 at a Japanese teaching hospital. Resident physicians were invited to answer an online survey that included existing valid instruments related to burnout, depression, and empathy. Demographic, background, occupational, and socioeconomic data were also collected. Participants were prompted to report the average daily work hours and the specialty they wish to pursue. ResultsOverall, 39/76 (51%), 27/76 (36%), and 21/76 (28%) resident physicians responded to surveys in April 2017, October 2017, and March 2018, respectively. The percentages of participants with burnout for surveys in April 2017, October 2017, and March 2018 were 7/39 (18%), 6/27 (22%), and 7/21 (33.3%). Emotional exhaustion (EE) was the only burnout component strongly correlated with the severity of depression (r = .615, p < .001; r = .706, p < .001; r = .601, p < .01). EE and depersonalization (DP) had no significant correlation with average daily working hours (β = .156, p = .343 for EE; β = .061, p = .711 for DP). ConclusionsThe results suggest that capping working hours alone may not be effective in reducing burnout in Japanese resident physicians. Medical educators might need to consider not only working hours but also individual job quality and satisfaction to address burnout. Future studies may need to incorporate qualitative methods to explore the characteristics of burnout.

Highlights

Burnout is a chronic psychological condition characterized by a loss of enthusiasm, feelings of physical and mental exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment.[1]
Compared to previous studies conducted in Japan,[29] we focused on finding a correlation between burnout and socioeconomic factors, including occupational circumstances, in order to inform future interventions aimed at reducing burnout
It may be due to high baseline empathy scores in the study participants,[27] and further research is needed to determine the effect of empathy on burnout in Japanese resident physicians

Summary

Introduction

Burnout is a chronic psychological condition characterized by a loss of enthusiasm, feelings of physical and mental exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment.[1]. Researchers have been striving to pinpoint its prevalence and geographical characteristics in order to design possible countermeasures.[11,12,13,14,15,16,17]

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Conclusion