The Correlation of Stress in Residency With Future Stress and Burnout: A 10-Year Prospective Cohort Study

Residents and practicing physicians displaying signs of stress is common. It is unclear whether stress during residency persists into professional practice or is associated with future burnout.

We assessed the persistence of stress after residency and its correlation with burnout in professional practice. We hypothesized that stress would linger and be correlated with future burnout.

A prospective cohort study was conducted over 10 years using survey instruments with existing validity evidence. Residents over 3 academic years (2003-2005) were surveyed to measure stress in residency. Ten years later, these residents were sought out for a second survey measuring current stress and burnout in professional practice.

From 2003 to 2005, 143 of 155 residents participated in the initial assessment (92% response rate). Of those, 21 were excluded in 2015 due to lack of contact information; follow-up surveys were distributed to 122 participants, and 81 responses were received (66% response rate and 57% of original participants). Emotional distress in residency correlated with emotional distress in professional practice (correlation coefficient = 0.45, P < .0001), emotional exhaustion (correlation coefficient = 0.30, P = .007), and depersonalization (correlation coefficient = 0.25, P = .029). Multivariate linear regression showed that emotional distress in residency was associated with future emotional distress (β estimate = 0.57, P = .005) and depersonalization (β estimate = 2.29, P = .028).

We showed emotional distress as a resident persists into individuals' professional practice 10 years later and has an association with burnout in practice.