title: Association between Sick Leave Prescribing Practices and Physician Burnout and Empathy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association between sick leave prescription and physician burnout and empathy in a primary care health district in Lleida, Spain.
  
  
  METHODS
  This descriptive study included 108 primary care doctors from 22 primary care centers in Lleida in 2014 (183,600 patients). Burnout was measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory and empathy with the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy. The reliability of the instruments was measured by calculating Cronbach's alpha and normal distribution was analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov-Lilliefors and χ2 tests. Burnout and empathy scores were analyzed by age, sex, and place of work (urban vs rural). Sick leave data were obtained from the Catalan Health Institute.
  
  
  RESULTS
  High empathy was significantly associated with low burnout. Neither empathy nor burnout were significantly associated with sick leave prescription.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sick leave prescription by physicians is not associated with physicians' empathy or burnout and may mostly depend on prescribing guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Primary Care Service, Lleida Health Region, Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Oriol
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yuguero Torres
authors.affiliation: Borja Bioethics Institute, Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain; School of Medicine University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esquerda Aresté
authors.affiliation: Jordi Gol Institute for Research in Primary Care IDIAP Jordi Gol, Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Josep Ramon
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Marsal Mora
authors.affiliation: Primary Care Service, Lleida Health Region, Hospital Arnau de Vilanova, Lleida, Spain; School of Medicine University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Soler-González
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002055:Burnout, Professional; D002947:Cities; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018582:Sick Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data