Burnout in French General Practitioners: A Nationwide Prospective Study

Frédéric Dutheil, Lenise M. Parreira, Julia Eismann, François-Xavier Lesage, David Balayssac, Céline Lambert, Maëlys Clinchamps, Denis Pezet, Bruno Pereira and Bertrand Le Roy
Additional contact information
Frédéric Dutheil: CNRS, LaPSCo, Physiological and Psychosocial Stress, University Clermont Auvergne, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
Lenise M. Parreira: Preventive and Occupational Medicine, University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
Julia Eismann: Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Practitioner, University Clermont Auvergne, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
François-Xavier Lesage: Laboratory Epsylon, Dynamic of Human Abilities & Health Behaviors, University of Montpellier, 34000 Montpellier, France
David Balayssac: INSERM U1107 NEURO-DOL, University Clermont Auvergne, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
Céline Lambert: Biostatistics Unit, Clinical Research and Innovation Direction, University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
Maëlys Clinchamps: CNRS, LaPSCo, Physiological and Psychosocial Stress, University Clermont Auvergne, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
Denis Pezet: INSERM U1071, M2iSH, University Clermont Auvergne, USC-INRA 2018, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
Bruno Pereira: Biostatistics Unit, Clinical Research and Innovation Direction, University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
Bertrand Le Roy: Department of General Surgery, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, 42270 Saint-Priest-en-Jarez, France

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-16

Abstract: Background: We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of burnout among French general practitioners in private practice and to study the risk and protective factors of burnout. Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted with French GPs working in a private practice in France who were asked to fulfil an internet questionnaire. We used the secure internet application REDCap ® . Exclusion criteria were only working in a hospital, substitute doctors, and internship students. There was a putative sample size of 88,886 GPs. We retrieved the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), occupational characteristics (type of installation, emergency regulated shifts, night shifts, university supervisor, weekly hours worked, seniority), and personal characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, and number of children. Results: We included 1926 GPs among the 2602 retrieved questionnaires. A total of 44.8% of French liberal GPs were experiencing burnout, with 4.8% (95%CI 3.9–5.9%) experiencing severe burnout. The risk factors of severe burnout were male gender (RR = 1.91, 95%CI 1.15–3.16), working in a suburban area (5.23, 2.18–12.58), and having more than 28 appointments per day (1.95, 1.19–3.19). Working more than 50 h weekly showed a tendency to increase the risk of severe burnout (1.55, 0.93–2.59, p = 0.095), with a significant increase in the risk of low and moderate burnout (1.31, 1.02–1.67 and 1.86, 1.34–2.57, respectively). Protective factors were mainly resident training, which decreased the risk of both low, moderate, and severe burnout (0.65, 0.51–0.83; 0.66, 0.48–0.92; and 0.42, 95%CI 0.23–0.76, respectively). Performing home visits decreased the risk of severe burnout (0.25, 0.13–0.47), as did group practice for intermediate level of burnout (0.71, 0.51–0.96). Conclusion: GPs are at a high risk of burnout, with nearly half of them in burnout, with burnout predominantly affecting males and those between the ages of 50 and 60 years old. The main risk factors were a high workload with more than 28 appointments per day or 50 h of work per week, and the main protective factors were related to social cohesion such having a teaching role and working in a group practice with back-office support.

Keywords: mental health; burnout; general practitioners (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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