Odds of Burnout Higher for Doctors Working With Incompletely Staffed Team

WEDNESDAY, May 14, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Working with an incompletely staffed team is associated with greater odds of burnout for physicians, according to a research letter published online May 14 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Lisa S. Rotenstein, M.D., from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study to examine the prevalence of an incomplete team after the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with burnout and work intentions among U.S. physicians. The authors used data from the American Medical Association Organizational Biopsy survey tool. Participants included 970 physicians from 15 organizations.

The researchers found that 47.9 percent of respondents worked with an incompletely staffed team more than 25 percent of the time, with the percentage differing by specialty (prevalence, 44.8, 38.5, 49.3, and 62.4 percent in primary care, medical, surgical, and other specialties, respectively). Among the respondents, 47.9, 26.4, and 15.4 percent met criteria for burnout, indicated likely or definite intent to reduce clinical work hours (ITR) in the next 12 months, and indicated likely or definite intent to leave one”s current organization (ITL) in the next 24 months, respectively. Working with an incomplete team more than 25 percent of the time was associated with increased odds of burnout, ITR, and ITL in multivariable analyses (odds ratios, 2.21, 1.43, and 1.49, respectively).

“When interpreted alongside evidence that work overload is associated with physician burnout and ITL, while control over team composition is associated with lower odds of these outcomes, our results underscore the central role of health care teams in shaping physician experiences,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the health care management industry.

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