title: Predictors and Outcomes of Burnout in Primary Care Physicians.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess relationships between primary care work conditions, physician burnout, quality of care, and medical errors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of data from the MEMO (Minimizing Error, Maximizing Outcome) Study. Two surveys of 422 family physicians and general internists, administered 1 year apart, queried physician job satisfaction, stress and burnout, organizational culture, and intent to leave within 2 years. A chart audit of 1795 of their adult patients with diabetes and/or hypertension assessed care quality and medical errors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women physicians were almost twice as likely as men to report burnout (36% vs 19%, P < .001). Burned out clinicians reported less satisfaction (P < .001), more job stress (P < .001), more time pressure during visits (P < .01), more chaotic work conditions (P < .001), and less work control (P < .001). Their workplaces were less likely to emphasize work-life balance (P < .001) and they noted more intent to leave the practice (56% vs 21%, P < .001). There were no consistent relationships between burnout, care quality, and medical errors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Burnout is highly associated with adverse work conditions and a greater intention to leave the practice, but not with adverse patient outcomes. Care quality thus appears to be preserved at great personal cost to primary care physicians. Efforts focused on workplace redesign and physician self-care are warranted to sustain the primary care workforce.
authors.affiliation: Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rabatin
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baier Manwell
authors.affiliation: New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Roger L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA mark.linzer@hcmed.org.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Linzer
mesh_terms: D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002641:Chicago / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014922:Wisconsin / Q000453:epidemiology; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: burnout; medical errors; occupational stress; physician burnout; primary care