GSC 2019’s Best Paper Award winner highlights need for interventional programs for spine surgeons. More than 30 percent of spine surgeons worldwide report experiencing burnout, according to the Global Spine Congress 2019’s Best Paper Award winner, Burnout and Quality of Life Among Spine Surgeons: Results of a Worldwide Survey. The results of the study—for which AO Spine member Alisson R Teles was lead author—indicate that depression, anxiety, pain, and difficulty with usual activities are allCharacterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased sense of accomplishment that leads to decreased effectiveness at work, professional burnout’s prevalence among spine surgeons worldwide and its risk factors had largely gone unreported. associated with professional burnout.

 

Characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased sense of accomplishment that leads to decreased effectiveness at work, professional burnout’s prevalence among spine surgeons worldwide and its risk factors had largely gone unreported. Using an electronic survey of 818 AO Spine members from 87 countries in May 2018, the study’s authors evaluated the prevalence of burnout, assessed the personal and professional characteristics associated with it, and examined burnout’s relationship with spine surgeons’ quality of life.

 

The majority of survey respondents were orthopedic surgeons (62.2 percent) with more than ten years in practice (43.2 percent), worked 40 to 60 hours per week (54.4 percent), and treated both adult and pediatric spinal pathologies (53.6 percent). High levels of emotional fatigue (18.1 percent) and depersonalization (23.2 percent), as well as low levels of fulfillment (21 percent), were reported.

 

The study also identified a number of independent burnout risk factors including being a fellow or resident, working more than 60 hours per week, and practicing in North America. Higher levels of emotional fatigue and depersonalization and lower levels of quality of life were associated with lower quality of life scores.

 

Overall, the study found a significant association between burnout scores and decreased general quality of life, indicating the need to develop interventional programs to better identify, prevent, and manage burnout among practicing spine surgeons.While Teles’ study focuses on spine surgeons, it echoes concerns raised by broader examinations of burnout among health care workers.

 

While Teles’ study focuses on spine surgeons, it echoes concerns raised by broader examinations of burnout among health care workers. For example, a 2018 Harvard Business Review study analyzed data for two characteristics associated with burnout for more than 80,000 health care personnel—19,000 nurses, 5,000 physicians and 60,000 non-nurse/medical doctor (MD) personnel—from 40 health care systems in the United States. The study showed how those two characteristics—“activation” or the extent to which a person is motivated by his/her work and feels it is meaningful, and “decompression”, the degree to which one can withdraw, recharge, and enjoy life outside of work—vary among the various groups and how they relate to resilience against burnout in each group. Researchers found that doctors, nurses, and non-nurse/MD personnel all had the same average level of activation, but physicians had lower decompression scores, showing that they were less able than others to withdraw and recharge. That study also found that decompression and activation are moderately correlated: “People who are better able to decompress are also somewhat more likely to feel activated in their work.”

 

Another Harvard Business Review article, “When Passion Leads to Burnout”, describes how the term “burnout” has been deprioritized for decades but the younger workforce’s demand for more meaningful work is a growing concern. And it may finally be getting the attention it deserves: The issue has caught the attention of the World Health Organization (WHO), which calls burnout a “professional phenomenon” and includes burnout in its 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).

Administrative efficiency measures along with patient satisfaction measures and productivity metrics are reshaping how many organizations define the meaning of “good doctor,” according to the Mayo Clinic study.

While depression, anxiety, pain, and difficulty dealing with usual activities—all symptoms associated with burnout—are finally on the radar in the broader professional world, a Mayo Clinic study indicates that the average US physician now spends roughly half of his/her workday and an additional 28 hours per month on nights and weekends completing electronic health records (EHR). Moreover, administrative efficiency measures along with patient satisfaction measures and productivity metrics are reshaping how many organizations define the meaning of “good doctor,” according to the Mayo Clinic study.

 

A 2019 literature search, “A Review on Studies to Manage Physician Burnout,” suggests that a focused approach with a standard protocol must be established by health care providers. Measures could include professional coaching and stress reduction programs, hospital protocols to work duty division and structured roles, and hospital-paid leave for physicians, as well as time off to pursue activities they are passionate about. Other recommended measures include funding for team activities to strengthen team relationships, and strict adherence to Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education work-hour guidelines. These recommendations dovetail with the recommendations in Teles’ study results highlighting the need to better identify, prevent, and manage burnout among spine surgeons.

 

Ultimately, such measures stand to shape healthier health care providers while leading to improved patient outcomes, fewer errors, and a more efficient health care sector.

 

 

 

 

 

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