More Cards Report Struggling With Burnout, Survey Finds

More than one-third of cardiologists reported feeling burnt out, with women and mid-career specialists most likely to report symptoms of burnout, according to a survey of job satisfaction.

Of 2,025 cardiologists who responded to the survey (1,652 men; 362 women), 35.4% cited burnout and 43.9% said they were stressed, reported Laxmi Mehta, MD, of the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.

While the respondents were given prompts to assess the degree to which they felt overloaded, they were allowed to define what “burnout” meant to them, Mehta’s group explained. Of those who reported burnout, 23.9% said they were experiencing one or more symptoms, such as emotional exhaustion, 9.9% said they had chronic symptoms of burnout, and 1.6% said they felt completely burned out and needed to seek outside help, they reported in a presentation at the virtual American College of Cardiology (ACC) meeting.

Burnout was also more common in women (45.3%) than men (33.5%), while mid-career cardiologists (8-21 years experience) most often reported being burnt out (45.3%) versus early- or late-career cardiologists (35.4% and 31.5%, respectively).

Sandy Lewis, MD, of Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, said the data on women and mid-career cardiologist was “worrisome…this may affect our cardiology pipeline. As younger women in medical schools see these women being burned out, will they be choosing cardiology as a career?”

Among cardiologists who reported putting in 60 hours of work/week, 41.5% said they had burnout symptoms versus 17.9% who reported working <40 hours/week, and 29.5% who reported working 40-59 hours/week (P<0.001).

Finally, burned out and stressed cardiologists were more likely to report the following versus cardiologists reporting neither burn out nor stress (P<0.001 for all):

• Hectic work environment 55.1% vs 37.0% vs 7.9%:
• Recent major medical error: 58.3% vs 33.1% vs 8.6%
• Plans for changing jobs: 58.1% vs 27.9% vs 14%

“Burnout rates are higher in cardiologists who work longer hours or work in a hectic work environment, who plan to leave their current practice, and among those reporting medical errors,” Mehta added.

The survey was sent to 19,348 ACC members from September to October 2019 (14% return rate). Mehta acknowledged that the low return rate was one of the study limitations, as was the potential for bias, with cardiologists who were experiencing burnout more likely to complete the survey. But she also noted that the numbers have risen since the survey was done in 2015, when 26.8% of respondents said they experienced on-the-job burnout.

Lewis commented that “It is humbling to see that things have progressed, and is certainly a call to action.”

She cautioned that “It is difficult to ignore the elephant in the room, which is the COVID19 pandemic, and the implications of burnout are really front and center with our colleagues who are working long hours; have hectic work environments; lack of control; and…lack of the safety in work situations that we have worked so hard to achieve because we don’t have [personal] protective gear.”

Mehta suggested that medical professionals try to cope with the pandemic by exercising, eating healthy, getting sleep, engaging in hobbies, and staying in contact with others even while social distancing. She also noted that most employers and professional organizations have burnout-assistance programs.

The authors plan future research that will examine how stress and burnout affect the entire care team and potentially identify factors that can predict burnout.