Prevalence of Burnout and Career Satisfaction Among Oncologists in China: A National Survey

AbstractBackground.Burnout and career satisfaction has been extensively studied among U.S. and European oncologists, although little is known about the situation among Chinese oncologists. Therefore, we conducted this national survey to investigate the prevalence of burnout and career satisfaction among Chinese oncologists.Patients and Methods.Between September 2015 and December 2016, a cross‐sectional field survey was conducted through the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology and the Chinese Committee of Rehabilitation and Palliative Care. The full‐length survey consisted of 59 questions investigating personal and professional characteristics and standardized instruments to measure burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory‐Human Service Survey) and career satisfaction. An additional six questions, derived from the National Survey on the Practice of Medicine by Chinese Physicians related to burnout or career satisfaction, were also included.Results.In total, 3,500 oncologists received the questionnaire, and 2,700 (77.1%) responded, of whom 1,620 (46.3%) were eligible for analysis (median age, 36 years; 56.1% male). Overall, 827 oncologists (51.0%) were burned out. Five factors (lower curative rate of patients, more hours devoted to patient care, more nights on call per week, fewer minutes allocated for return outpatient visits, and more weekends rounding per year) were associated with burnout. Meanwhile, burnout was also strongly associated with a negative view of the physicia...
Source: The Oncologist - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Health Outcomes and Economics of Cancer Care, Global Health and Cancer Source Type: research