Authors :
Presenting Author: Brin Freund, MD – Mayo Clinic in Florida
Cormac O'Donovan, MD – Wake Forest Baptist Health
Alina Ivaniuk, MD – Mayo Clinic in Florida
William Tatum, DO – Mayo Clinic in Florida
Hiba Haider, MD – Department of Neurology, University of Chicago, IL
Rationale:
Burnout in healthcare workers is at epidemic levels and is twice as prevalent in physicians. The yearly costs related to physician burnout, mostly attributed to reduced productivity and increased turnover, are estimated at 5 billion US dollars and there are risks of adverse effects on patient care. Within neurology, all subspecialites are susceptible to burnout but there are no studies specifically focusing on epilepsy physicians.Methods:
We developed a 45-question online survey targeting neurologists who take care of patients with epilepsy in the U.S. The survey was open from October 22, 2024, until February 28, 2025, and was distributed through the American Epilepsy Society monthly online newsletter and through social media. The survey included epilepsy specific questions and those from the validated mini-Z questionnaire.
Results:
A total of 176 responses were included, and 96 (54.5%) reported burnout, 36 (20.5%) reported severe burnout, and 136 (89%) agreed that burnout was a problem for the specialty. Several demographic factors including being single (p=0.001) and having ≥ 4 children (p=0.044) were related to burnout; male gender (p< 0.001) was protective against burnout. Less non-clinical full-time equivalent (FTE) was associated with burnout (p=0.04) and severe burnout (p=0.007), and being on call ≥ 4 days/month increased the risk of burnout (p< 0.001). Each additional patient admitted to the EMU was associated with an 8% increased risk of burnout, and fellow coverage reduced burnout (p< 0.001). Self-report of sufficient clinical staff was associated with less burnout and severe burnout (p< 0.001). Lower total mini-Z score correlated with burnout (p< 0.001), and lower subscale 2 score was related to severe burnout (p< 0.001). Physicians with any or severe burnout were more likely to respond they would not have become a physician (p< 0.001) or epileptologist (p=0.002, p< 0.001, respectively). Burnout (p=0.018) and severe burnout (p=0.002) increased the likelihood of planning to leave job or medicine, or reduce working hours. Multivariable analyses for burnout demonstrated a lower mini-Z subscale 2 score (p< 0.001), age 41-50 (p=0.002) or 51-60 (p=0.006), 0.4 or higher clinical FTE (p=0.028), more EMU patients (p=0.009), and female or non-binary gender (p< 0.001) were associated with burnout; fellow coverage (p=0.004) and higher mini-Z subscale 2 score (p< 0.001) were protective. Single relationship status (p=0.02) and lower mini-Z subscale 1 score (p=0.01) were associated with severe burnout in multivariable analysis.