The Impact of Organizational Leadership on Physician Burnout and Satisfaction

May 30, 2022 updated by: Edward Spilg, University of Ottawa

The Impact of Organizational Leadership on Physician Burnout and Satisfaction at The Ottawa Hospital

Physician burnout is a global issue characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low levels of personal accomplishment. Recent evidence suggests that organization-directed interventions were more likely to lead to reductions in burnout when compared to physician-directed interventions. More specifically, the leadership behaviors of the direct physician supervisor play a critical role in the well-being of physicians they supervise.

As such, the aims of this project are: 1) To improve our understanding of the prevalence of burnout and professional satisfaction of physicians working at the Ottawa Hospital (TOH), and 2) To evaluate the relationship between the leadership qualities of direct physician supervisors (i.e. Division and Department Heads) and the well-being and burnout of their physicians. Specifically, a cross-sectional survey will be completed by physicians at TOH to assess their levels of burnout and satisfaction and the leadership qualities of their direct physician supervisors.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Physician burnout is a global issue characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low levels of personal accomplishment. Burnout symptoms as high as 50% have been documented worldwide. According to the 2018 National Physician Health Survey, 30% of Canadian Physicians and Residents are experiencing burnout, with 26% high emotional exhaustion and 15% high depersonalization. Physician burnout is associated with low job satisfaction, decreased quality of patient care, reduced productivity, high job turnover, and early retirement from clinical practice. However, evidence suggests burnout is reversible and even preventable.

Recent evidence suggests that organization-directed interventions were more likely to lead to reductions in burnout when compared to physician-directed interventions. More specifically, the leadership behaviors of the direct physician supervisor play a critical role in the well-being of physicians they supervise. To date, we are unaware of any study that has examined the relationship between organizational leadership and degree of burnout and professional satisfaction in a Canadian tertiary care centre. Understanding physician burnout and professional satisfaction has strategic importance to the health of the physician, the patient, and the organization.

A recent study of 2813 physicians at the Mayo clinic found that each 1-point increase in supervisor's leadership score was associated with a 3.3% decrease in the likelihood of burnout and 9% increase in satisfaction of physicians. Furthermore, 11% and 47% of the variation of burnout and satisfaction, respectively, was attributed to the leadership rating of the physician's supervisor. The findings from this study further highlight the importance of prioritizing leadership as a key performance indicator, but it is necessary to first determine whether the Mayo Clinic's findings can be translated to a Canadian tertiary care centre.

As such, the aims of this project are: 1) To improve our understanding of the prevalence of burnout and professional satisfaction of physicians working at TOH, and 2) To evaluate the relationship between the leadership qualities of direct physician supervisors (i.e. Division and Department Heads) and the well-being and burnout of their physicians.

Our study will use Shanafelt et al's study as a guide to investigate leadership qualities at TOH. A cross-sectional online survey will be completed by physicians at TOH that will assess their levels of burnout and satisfaction and the leadership qualities of their direct physician supervisor.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

383

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
        • The Ottawa Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

N/A

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All physicians working at The Ottawa Hospital

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • all physicians working at The Ottawa Hospital

Exclusion Criteria:

  • none

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Physicians at The Ottawa Hospital
Online survey completed by physicians working at The Ottawa Hospital consisting of the 2-item Maslach Burnout Inventory, a Satisfaction Questionnaire and the 12-Item Participatory Management Leadership Score.
Other: Survey
Survey

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
2-item Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)
Time Frame: Baseline
Burnout will be assessed by the 2-item version of the MBI.
Baseline
Satisfaction Questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline
Overall satisfaction with TOH as a health care organization will be evaluated with the following question, rated on a 5-point Likert scale from "very satisfied" to "very dissatisfied": "Considering everything, how would you rate your overall satisfaction with TOH as a whole at the present time?"
Baseline
12-Item Participatory Management Leadership Index
Time Frame: Baseline
This validated questionnaire assesses the opinion of the leadership qualities of the physician's immediate supervisor. The 12 items assess specific characteristics of leadership that are measurable and actionable. Participants will also be asked to rate their overall satisfaction with their immediate supervisor on a 5-point Likert scale from "very satisfied" to "very dissatisfied".
Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Ottawa

Collaborators

The Ottawa Hospital
The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Edward Spilg, MBChB, University of Ottawa

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 17, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 21, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

February 21, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 14, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 17, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

May 21, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 1, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 30, 2022

Last Verified

May 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 20200431-01H

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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