F. Gleason1, S. Baker1, E. Malone1, R. Hollis1, K. Cofer1, J. Richman1, D. Chu1, B. Lindeman1 1University Of Alabama at Birmingham,Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Introduction: Surgical residents are a population at high risk for burnout. Some studies have demonstrated a strong inverse relationship between burnout and both Emotional Intelligence (EI) and job resources . We hypothesized that burnout among surgery residents at our institution would also be inversely related to EI and job resources, but directly related to experienced disruptive behavior.
Methods: All general surgery residents at a single institution were invited to complete a survey in 2018 that included: the 22-item Maslach-Burnout Inventory (MBI), 30-item trait EI questionnaire (TEIQ-SF), as well as focused questions assessing disruptive behaviors (8 items), job resources (8 items), and demographic characteristics (4 items). Burnout was defined as scoring high in Depersonalization (≥10 points) or Emotional Exhaustion (≥27 points). Student’s t-tests and Wilcoxon tests were used to compare continuous variables; Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare categorical variables, as appropriate.
Results: Surveys were completed by 60 residents (response rate 87%). Median respondent age was 30 (IQR 28-32), 51.7% were female, and 48.3% single. Thirty-five met criteria for burnout (58%). Of female respondents, 68% were burned out compared to 48% of male respondents, however this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.13). There was no significant difference in burnout rates between married and non-married residents (55.6% vs. 65.5%, p=0.45). Among married respondents, 75% without children were burned out compared to 27% of those with children (p=0.03). Residents with burnout had significantly lower scores for job resources compared to residents without burnout (19 vs. 26, p<0.01). Job resources sub-domain scores for meaningful feedback and professional development were significantly associated with burnout (p<0.01 for both). Having experienced any disruptive behavior was significantly associated with burnout (68% vs. 32%, p=0.01). Mean EI scores were also lower for those with burnout (5.18 vs. 5.64, p<0.01). Among EI sub-categories, burnout was significantly associated with well-being and emotionality (p<0.01 and p=0.02, respectively).
Conclusion: Burnout is prevalent among surgery residents at our institution. Experiencing disruptive behaviors was associated with higher burnout scores, while higher scores in emotional intelligence and perceptions of job resources were associated with lower burnout scores. Further research is needed to determine if increasing resident EI and perceptions of job resources could decrease burnout.