Surveys of Burnout Among Physicians in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVES

To examine severity and prevalence of burnout among physicians in Taiwan, we conducted a review of epidiomiological studies on burnout problems in physicians of Taiwan.

METHODS

We performed a systemic research in National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertions, Airiti Library, Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for surveys measuring the levels of burnout among physicians in Taiwan. We appraised each survey ascertaining the instrument, and compared the content, results and characteristics of these surveys.

RESULTS

We found 15 surveys measuring burnout of physicians during 2008 to 2014. All of them were cross-sectional studies using either Chinese version of Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) or Chinese version of Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) as a measuring tool. For those used MBI, the scores of burnout could not be interpreted and compared, given pending overall score compilation. For those used CBI, the levels of burnout were rather high. Age, gender, specialty, working hours, and work loads were notable factors associated with burnout of physicians in Taiwan.

CONCLUSION

The selection of an instrument for further research should be with caution for future crossnational comparison. Longitudinal, multicenter and intervention studies need to be conducted at a national level to assess burnout levels among susceptible age groups and subspecialties.