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Meta-Analysis
. 2018 Nov 12;13(11):e0206840.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206840. eCollection 2018.

Burnout syndrome among medical residents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Hugo Rodrigues  1 , Ricardo Cobucci  2 , Antônio Oliveira  3 , João Victor Cabral  4 , Leany Medeiros  5 , Karen Gurgel  6 , Tházio Souza  6 , Ana Katherine Gonçalves  1   7
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Burnout syndrome among medical residents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Hugo Rodrigues et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Burnout is a psychological syndrome that is very common among medical residents. It consists of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and reduced personal accomplishment (PA).

Objective: To estimate burnout among different medical residency specialties.

Methods: A systematic review with meta-analysis was performed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A search of bibliographic databases and grey literature was conducted, from inception to March 2018. The following databases were accessed: Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Scopus, and 3,575 studies were found. Methodological quality was evaluated by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Methodology Checklist for Cross-Sectional/Prevalence Study. In the final analysis, 26 papers were included. Their references were checked for additional studies, but none were included.

Results: 4,664 medical residents were included. High DP, EE and low PA proportions were compared. Specialties were distributed into three groups of different levels of burnout prevalence: general surgery, anesthesiology, obstetrics/gynecology and orthopedics (40.8%); internal medicine, plastic surgery and pediatrics (30.0%); and otolaryngology and neurology (15.4%). Overall burnout prevalence found for all specialties was 35.7%.

Conclusion: The prevalence of burnout syndrome was significantly higher among surgical/urgency residencies than in clinical specialties.

Prospero registration: CRD42018090270.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Article selection.
Selection process in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses).[22].
Fig 2
Fig 2. Burnout prevalence.
Forest plot of prevalence of burnout syndrome among medical and surgical residents.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Depersonalization.
Forest plot of prevalence of high depersonalization among medical and surgical residents.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Emotional exhaustion.
Forest plot of prevalence of high emotional exhaustion among medical and surgical residents.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Personal accomplishment.
Forest plot of prevalence of low personal accomplishment among medical and surgical residents.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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