Relationship between non-medical reading and burnout as well as professional satisfaction among urologists with migrant background: results of the EUTAKD survey study conducted at German hospitals

Abstract

There are no study results on the private and professional satisfaction and the burnout risk of urologists with a migrant background at German hospitals to date. Non-medical reading has been described to have an influence on lower burnout rates among physicians of different specialties. A SurveyMonkey questionnaire with 101 items on criteria characterising the study participant, questions on private and professional satisfaction and the complete Maslach Burnout Inventory was opened to urologists with a migrant background at German clinics between August and October 2020. The impact of non-medical reading on professional satisfaction and burnout was comparatively assessed (group A: ≤1 book/12 months versus group B: ≥2 books/12 months). Eighty-one study participants were included. They were almost equally distributed into groups A (49.4%) and B (50.6%). In several items on personal and professional satisfaction, there was a significantly higher satisfaction in group B. In the burnout dimensions of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP) and personal accomplishment (PA), a high risk of burnout was present in 27.9%, 35.3% and 73.5% of the study participants. A group comparison revealed significant advantages for Group B in the PA dimension in both the sum score (p=0.001) and the categorical comparison (p=0.002). Study participants in Group B also had a significantly lower DP dimension sum score compared with Group A (p=0.047). The group variable was independently associated with a combined score of EE and DP on the one hand (OR 0.316; p=0.031) and the PA dimension on the other (OR 0.170; p=0.024). Reading non-medical books was associated with higher professional satisfaction and a lower burnout risk among urologists with a migrant background at German hospitals.