Association of Weekly Protected Nonclinical Time With Resident Physician Burnout and Well-being

Burnout among physicians is high, with resulting concern about quality of care. With burnout beginning early in physician training, much-needed data are lacking on interventions to decrease burnout and improve well-being among resident physicians.

To design a departmental-level burnout intervention, evaluate its association with otolaryngology residents' burnout and well-being, and describe how residents used and perceived the study intervention.

A prospective, nonrandomized crossover study was conducted from September 25, 2017, to June 24, 2018, among all 19 current residents in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Minnesota. Statistical analysis was performed from June 28 to August 7, 2018.

All participants were assigned 2 hours per week of protected nonclinical time alternating with a control period of no intervention at 6-week intervals.

Burnout was measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory and Mini-Z Survey. Well-being was measured by the Resident and Fellow Well-Being Index and a quality-of-life single-item self-assessment. In addition to a baseline demographic survey, participants completed the aforementioned surveys at approximately 6-week intervals during the study period.

Among the 19 residents in the study (10 men [53%]), the overall protected time intervention (week 0 to week 32) was associated with a mean decrease of 0.63 points (95% CI, -1.03 to -0.22 points) in the Maslach Burnout Inventory emotional exhaustion score, indicating a clinically meaningful decrease in burnout, and a mean decrease of 1.26 points (95% CI, -2.18 to -0.34 points) in the Resident and Fellow Well-Being Index score, indicating a clinically meaningful improvement in well-being. The baseline to week 32 mean changes in the Maslach Burnout Inventory depersonalization score, Maslach Burnout Inventory personal accomplishment score, and quality-of-life single-item self-assessment were not clinically meaningful. There were clinically meaningful improvements in 4 of 6 tested Mini-Z Questionnaire items from baseline to week 32: job stress (weighted κ statistic, 0.21; 95% CI, -0.11 to 0.53), burnout (weighted κ statistic, 0.25; 95% CI, -0.02 to 0.53), control over workload (weighted κ statistic, 0.26; 95% CI, -0.01 to 0.53), and sufficient time for documentation (weighted κ statistic, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.08 to 0.54).

This study found that 2 hours per week of protected nonclinical time was associated with decreased burnout and increased well-being in a small sample of otolaryngology residents. Future randomized clinical studies in larger cohorts are warranted to infer causality of decreased burnout and increased well-being as a result of protected nonclinical time.