• Ellis C Dillon, Cheryl D Stults, Sien Deng, Meghan Martinez, Nina Szwerinski, P T Koenig, Laurie Gregg, Jill Kacher Cobb, Elizabeth Mahler, Dominick L Frosch, Sarina Le Sieur, Melissa Hanley, and Suzanne Pertsch.
• Center for Health Systems Research, Sutter Health and Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute, 795 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA, 94301, USA. dillone@sutterhealth.org.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Jan 1; 37 (1): 145-153.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic brought rapid changes to the work and personal lives of clinicians.ObjectiveTo assess clinician burnout and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic and guide healthcare system improvement efforts.DesignA survey asking about clinician burnout, well-being, and work experiences.ParticipantsSurveys distributed to 8141 clinicians from June to August 2020 in 9 medical groups and 17 hospitals at Sutter Health, a large healthcare system in Northern California.Main MeasuresBurnout was the primary outcome, and other indicators of well-being and work experience were also measured. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. All statistical inferences were based on weighted estimates adjusting for response bias.Key ResultsA total of 3176 clinicians (39.0%) responded to the survey. Weighted results showed 29.2% reported burnout, and burnout was more common among women than among men (39.0% vs. 22.7%, p<0.01). In multivariate models, being a woman was associated with increased odds of reporting burnout (OR=2.19, 95% CI: 1.51-3.17) and being 55+ years old with lower odds (OR=0.54, 95% CI: 0.34-0.87). More women than men reported that childcare/caregiving was impacting work (32.9% vs. 19.0%, p<0.01). Even after controlling for age and gender, clinicians who reported childcare/caregiving responsibilities impacted their work had substantially higher odds of reporting burnout (OR=2.19, 95% CI: 1.54-3.11). Other factors associated with higher burnout included worrying about safety at work, being given additional work tasks, concern about losing one's job, and working in emergency medicine or radiology. Protective factors included believing one's concerns will be acted upon and feeling highly valued.ConclusionsThis large survey found the pandemic disproportionally impacted women, younger clinicians, and those whose caregiving responsibilities impacted their work. These results highlight the need for a holistic and targeted strategy for improving clinician well-being that addresses the needs of women, younger clinicians, and those with caregiving responsibilities.© 2021. The Author(s).

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