Factors Associated with Burnout among Resident Physicians Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A 2-Month Longitudinal Observation Study.

BACKGROUND

Burnout during residency may be a function of intense professional demands and poor work/life balance. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, NYC hospital systems were quickly overwhelmed, and trainees were required to perform beyond the usual clinical duties with less supervision and limited education.

OBJECTIVE

The present longitudinal study examined the effects of COVID-19 caseload over time on burnout experienced by resident physicians and explored the effects of demographic characteristics and organizational and personal factors as predictors of burnout severity.

METHODS

This study employed a prospective design with repeated measurements from April 2020 to June 2020. Participants were surveyed about their well-being every 5 days. Predictors included caseload, sociodemographic variables, self-efficacy, hospital support, perceived professional development, meaning in work, and postgraduate training level.

RESULTS

In total, 54 resident physicians were recruited, of whom 50% reported burnout on initial assessment. Periods of higher caseload were associated with higher burnout. PGY-3 residents reported more burnout initially but appeared to recover faster compared to PGY-1 residents. Examined individually, higher self-efficacy, professional development, meaningful work, and hospital support were associated with lower burnout. When all four predictors were entered simultaneously, only self-efficacy was associated with burnout. However, professional development, meaningful work, and hospital support were associated with self-efficacy.

CONCLUSION

Burnout among residency is prevalent and may have implications for burnout during later stages of a physician's career. Self-efficacy is associated with lower burnout and interventions to increase self-efficacy and the interpersonal factors that promote self-efficacy may improve physician physical and emotional well-being.