Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jan;37(1):145-153.
doi: 10.1007/s11606-021-07134-4. Epub 2021 Nov 2.

Women, Younger Clinicians', and Caregivers' Experiences of Burnout and Well-being During COVID-19 in a US Healthcare System

Ellis C Dillon  1 , Cheryl D Stults  2 , Sien Deng  2 , Meghan Martinez  2 , Nina Szwerinski  2 , P T Koenig  3 , Laurie Gregg  4 , Jill Kacher Cobb  5 , Elizabeth Mahler  6 , Dominick L Frosch  2 , Sarina Le Sieur  7 , Melissa Hanley  7 , Suzanne Pertsch  8
Affiliations

Women, Younger Clinicians', and Caregivers' Experiences of Burnout and Well-being During COVID-19 in a US Healthcare System

Ellis C Dillon et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic brought rapid changes to the work and personal lives of clinicians.

Objective: To assess clinician burnout and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic and guide healthcare system improvement efforts.

Design: A survey asking about clinician burnout, well-being, and work experiences.

Participants: Surveys distributed to 8141 clinicians from June to August 2020 in 9 medical groups and 17 hospitals at Sutter Health, a large healthcare system in Northern California.

Main measures: Burnout was the primary outcome, and other indicators of well-being and work experience were also measured. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. All statistical inferences were based on weighted estimates adjusting for response bias.

Key results: A total of 3176 clinicians (39.0%) responded to the survey. Weighted results showed 29.2% reported burnout, and burnout was more common among women than among men (39.0% vs. 22.7%, p<0.01). In multivariate models, being a woman was associated with increased odds of reporting burnout (OR=2.19, 95% CI: 1.51-3.17) and being 55+ years old with lower odds (OR=0.54, 95% CI: 0.34-0.87). More women than men reported that childcare/caregiving was impacting work (32.9% vs. 19.0%, p<0.01). Even after controlling for age and gender, clinicians who reported childcare/caregiving responsibilities impacted their work had substantially higher odds of reporting burnout (OR=2.19, 95% CI: 1.54-3.11). Other factors associated with higher burnout included worrying about safety at work, being given additional work tasks, concern about losing one's job, and working in emergency medicine or radiology. Protective factors included believing one's concerns will be acted upon and feeling highly valued.

Conclusions: This large survey found the pandemic disproportionally impacted women, younger clinicians, and those whose caregiving responsibilities impacted their work. These results highlight the need for a holistic and targeted strategy for improving clinician well-being that addresses the needs of women, younger clinicians, and those with caregiving responsibilities.

Keywords: COVID-19; burnout; clinicians; gender; well-being.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they do not have a conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Percentage of clinicians reporting burnout by gender within each age group. ‘p<0.10, **p<0.01.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Shanafelt TD, West CP, Sinsky C, et al. Changes in burnout and satisfaction with work-life integration in physicians and the general US working population between 2011 and 2017. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2019;94(9):1681–1694. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.10.023. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Prasad K, McLoughlin C, Stillman M, et al. Prevalence and correlates of stress and burnout among U.S. healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a national cross-sectional survey study. EClinicalMedicine. 2021;35. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rotenstein LS, Torre M, Ramos MA, et al. Prevalence of burnout among physicians: a systematic review. JAMA. 2018;320(11):1131–1150. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.12777. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Maslach C, Jackson SE. The measurement of experienced burnout. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 1981;2(2):99–113. doi: 10.1002/job.4030020205. - DOI
    1. Brady KJS, Trockel MT, Khan CT, et al. What do we mean by physician wellness? A systematic review of its definition and measurement. Academic Psychiatry. 2018;42(1):94–108. doi: 10.1007/s40596-017-0781-6. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types