Meta-analysis of effort-reward imbalance prevalence among physicians

Abstract

Objective: Estimate the effort-reward imbalance prevalence (ERI) among physicians.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted from 2005 to 2019 using PRISMA guidelines on the PubMed and EBSCOhost search engines. Data were classified according to the ERI definition used by the authors. A meta-analysis was performed on effort and reward scores and on ERI prevalence rates.

Results: Out of 3787 results, we selected 41 studies. The physicians' ERI prevalence rate ranged from 3.50 to 96.9%. The standardized pooled effort mean score was 58.5 for effort and 48.9 for a reward out of 100, respectively. The overall combined ERI rate (when the ratio between effort and reward scores was above 1) was 40.2% among 21,939 practitioners (31.7% in the working European population). ERI rate was 70.2% using a four-point Likert scale and 21.1% using a five-point Likert scale. The highest rate (96.9%) was observed among German rural general practitioners and the lowest rate (3.50%) among Swiss hospital practitioners. The low percentage of variability (I² = 27%) attributed to effort scores heterogeneity between studies suggested that this dimension is not discriminant in the physician ERI assessment. The high heterogeneity in reward scores (I² = 83%) indicated that this dimension is sensible in ERI assessment among physicians. The number of items used did not appear as a significant source of heterogeneity.

Conclusion: Physician job ERI appeared to be higher than in the working population. Studying each dimension and item indicators could help improve psychosocial risk prevention.

Keywords: Effort–reward imbalance; Job satisfaction; Job stress; Occupational health; Physicians; Prevalence; Quality of work life.