Mindfulness Among Medical Oncology Doctors and Its Relation With Burnout: Turkish Oncology Group (TOG) Study

Medical oncology physicians have been identified as one of the main risk groups for the development of burnout. Mindfulness as being aware of the moment nonjudgmentally seems to be a protective factor against burnout. We aimed to reveal mindfulness levels among medical oncology doctors and the potential impact of mindfulness on burnout syndrome.

In this cross-sectional study, the data of 285 medical oncology doctors were analyzed. The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale was used for mindfulness evaluation, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory was used for burnout assessment. After defining mindfulness levels among medical oncology doctors, the relationship between mindfulness and burnout was analyzed by the Pearson correlation and bivariate logistic regression tests.

The mean Mindful Attention Awareness Scale score of participants was 54.52 ± 13.77. Mindfulness was associated with age (P < .001), having a hobby (P = .008), regular exercise (P = .001), professional title (P = .02), and professional experience (P = .02). As the level of mindfulness increased, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization decreased, whereas personal accomplishment increased significantly (all P < .001). In the regression analysis, mindfulness was significantly associated with all three subscales of burnout (all P < .01).

We have demonstrated for the first time on such a large scale that higher levels of mindfulness were related with lower burnout among medical oncology physicians. These findings suggest the potential benefits of mindfulness-based interventions in reducing burnout levels in medical oncologists.