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Prevalence of burnout among Swiss cancer clinicians, paediatricians and general practitioners: who are most at risk?

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Abstract

Goals of work

Increasing economical and administrative constraints and changes in health-care systems constitute a risk for burnout, especially for cancer physicians. However, little is known about differences across medical specialties and the importance of work characteristics.

Methods

A postal questionnaire addressing burnout, psychiatric morbidity, sociodemographics and work characteristics was administered to 180 cancer physicians, 184 paediatricians and 197 general practitioners in Switzerland.

Results

A total of 371 (66%) physicians participated in the survey. Overall, one third of the respondents expressed signs indicative of psychiatric morbidity and of burnout, including high levels of emotional exhaustion (33%) and depersonalisation/cynicism (28%) and a reduced feeling of personal accomplishment (20%). Workload (>50 h/week), lack of continuing education (<6 h/month) and working in a public institution were significantly associated with an increased risk of burnout. After adjustment for these characteristics, general practitioners had a higher risk for emotional exhaustion (OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.1 to 3.6) and depersonalisation (OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.4 to 5.3).

Conclusion

In this Swiss sample, cancer clinicians had a significant lower risk of burnout, despite a more important workload. Among possible explanations, involvement in research and teaching activities and access to continuing education may have protected them.

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Acknowledgements

This research project was partly supported by research grants partly from the institutional funds of the Division of oncology and the Department of internal medicine, Geneva University Hospitals and from Amgen Switzerland. We would like to thank Mrs. Paola Pirelli for her administrative work and Dr Jill Graham for giving us methodological indications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Oncology, Department of General Internal Medicine, University Hospitals of Geneva, 24 rue Micheli-du-Crest, CH-1211, Geneva, Switzerland

    Flavia Arigoni & André-Pascal Sappino

  2. Division of Primary Care Medicine, Department of Community and Primary Care Medicine, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Patrick A. Bovier

  3. Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Bernadette Mermillod

  4. Division of Emergency and Liaison Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

    Patricia Waltz

Authors
  1. Flavia Arigoni
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  2. Patrick A. Bovier
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  3. Bernadette Mermillod
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  4. Patricia Waltz
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  5. André-Pascal Sappino
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Correspondence to André-Pascal Sappino.

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Arigoni, F., Bovier, P.A., Mermillod, B. et al. Prevalence of burnout among Swiss cancer clinicians, paediatricians and general practitioners: who are most at risk?. Support Care Cancer 17, 75–81 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-008-0465-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-008-0465-6

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