Rural and urban differences in family physician burnout before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Understanding the different challenges rural and urban family physicians faced during the COVID-19 pandemic is essential for developing strategies to combat burnout. This study described the prevalence of burnout among rural and urban family physicians before and during the pandemic, examining physician and practice characteristics associated with burnout.

We conducted a repeated cross-sectional analysis of survey responses of 25,018 family physicians from the American Board of Family Medicine National Graduate Survey and Practice Demographic Survey from 3 time periods: pre-pandemic (January 2019-March 2020), early pandemic (April 2020-April 2021), and later pandemic (May 2021-June 2022). We used bivariate analyses and logistic regression to compare self-reported burnout in rural and urban family physicians over these time periods, controlling for physician and practice characteristics.

Overall, 43.5% of family physicians included in this study met the criteria for burnout. The burnout rate was slightly higher for rural physicians (45.2%) compared to urban physicians (43.2%), but not statistically significant. In the adjusted analyses, there was no association of rurality and burnout (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] 1.04, 95% CI 1.00-1.09). Family physicians in the later stage of the pandemic were more likely to report burnout than in the pre-pandemic stage (aRR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02-1.10).

We found burnout was a pervasive concern among family physicians over the stages of the pandemic, although we found no differences in burnout between rural and urban family physicians. Addressing family physician burnout is crucial to maintaining a resilient rural primary care workforce.