Poor Control Over Aspects of Work Linked to Physician Burnout

TUESDAY, Nov. 26, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Poor control over specific aspects of work is associated with burnout among physicians, according to a study published online Nov. 26 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Christine A. Sinsky, M.D., from the American Medical Association in Chicago, and colleagues examined the association of perceived work control with burnout and career intentions in a multi-institutional cross-sectional survey study involving more than 2,000 U.S. physicians.

The researchers found that 61.4, 60.6, and 61.3 percent of the respondents reported adequate control over patient load, adequate control over membership of their clinical team, and adequate control over workload, respectively; 49.0 and 74.6 percent reported adequate control of hiring of staff and clinical schedule, respectively. More than half (58.3 percent) reported having sufficient authority/autonomy over that for which they are accountable. Independent associations with burnout were seen for poor control over patient load, team composition, clinical schedule, domains for which the physician is accountable, and workload in multivariable analyses adjusting for personal and professional characteristics. Independent associations with intent to reduce clinical hours were seen for poor control over patient load and workload.

“Greater perceived control and influence over specific aspects of the clinical work environment were associated with lower rates of burnout, less intent to reduce clinical work effort, and lower intent to leave,” the authors write.

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