Burnout in Practicing Neurologists: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose Of Review: Burnout is a context-dependent, global issue among physicians in the medical field who often face job-related stressors, high workloads, and limited or lack of social support or autonomy. Within medicine, neurology is a specialty with high levels of burnout and low levels of work-life satisfaction. We, therefore, conducted this study to evaluate burnout rates among neurologists globally and identify the tools used to evaluate it.

Recent Findings: Among the 14 articles analyzed, the mean burnout prevalence rate among neurologists ranged from 18.1% to 94% (N = 8,735) across 6 countries (the United States, China, Philippines, Spain, Greece, and Brazil). Assessment of burnout using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) revealed that almost two-thirds (65.9%) of neurologists (N = 7,816) report experiencing burnout. Ten studies (71.4%) assessed burnout by using the MBI; the other 4 studies used the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, a survey questionnaire generated by the American Academy of Neurology Stroke Practice Resources Workgroup, the Mini-Z survey, and a single question from the Physician Work Life Study. Among the 5 studies that used the same tool for measuring burnout (22-item MBI) and burnout criteria cutoff (emotional exhaustion [EE] ≥ 27 and/or depersonalization (DP) ≥ 10 subscale), the mean burnout rate ranged from 45% to 67% ( < 0.05, N = 7,816) across 3 countries (China, the United States, and Brazil). Of the studies that used the MBI and reported the 3 subscales of EE, DP, and personal accomplishment (PA), only the mean EE score was statistically different between studies. There were no significant differences detected in burnout rates among residents, among attending physicians, or residents compared with attendings.

Summary: This meta-analysis of burnout among practicing neurologists reveals that available published data span different levels of training, different sample sizes, and different survey tools with different cutoffs used for burnout within the same tool. Although burnout rates among neurologists were found to differ by country, it is evident from this systematic review that a great deal of neurology physicians are experiencing burnout across the globe. This systematic review may inform future approaches to reduce burnout among neurologists.