Prevalence of oncologists in distress: Systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Objective: High mortality from cancer and rising patient numbers can trigger distress among oncologists because of a heavy and emotionally demanding workload. This systematic review and meta-analysis assesses the prevalence of high levels of distress among oncologists. Methods:The PRISMA protocol is registered at the PROSPERO international prospective register (Ref. 2015:CRD42015016325). We categorized data items according to the following distress factors: burnout, psychiatric morbidity, stress, depression, disrupted sleep, stressinduced physical symptoms, and substance use. We meta-analysed the prevalence of burnout and psychiatric morbidity using random effects models with MetaXL software. Results:The meta-analyses showed that 32% of 4876 oncologists had high burnout (±CI 28% to 36%) and 27% of 2384 had high psychiatric morbidity (±CI 23% to 32%). Studies also showed that 42 to 69% feel stressed at work, > 12% of oncologists screen positive for depression, many oncologists suffer from sleep deprivation, up to 30% drink alcohol in a problematic way, up to 20% of junior oncologists use hypnotic drugs and some frequently experience stress-induced complaints such as ulcers, gastric problems, headaches and arrhythmia. Conclusions:Occupational distress reduces career satisfaction, affects patient care and increases the chances of oncologists switching to another area of medicine therefore future research should explore appropriate interventions.Keywords: stress, burnout, psychiatric morbidity, sleep, meta-analysis, oncology, cancer.

Burnout in oncologists and associated factors: A systematic literature review and meta‐analysis

“…The levels of burnout are also congruent with research examining general oncology staff and those working in palliative care (Martins Pereira, Fonseca, & Sofia Carvalho, ; Trufelli et al, ). The pooled meta‐analysis prevalence rates of burnout in the EE subscale found in this review (32%) are identical to Medisauskaite and Kamau's () systematic review and meta‐analysis findings.…”

“…To the authors' knowledge, this is the first systematic literature review of oncology physicians to focus specifically on all three subscales of burnout as measured by the MBI and their associated factors. One review has explored this area, but concerning the prevalence of high EE scores only (Medisauskaite & Kamau, 2017).…”

Prevalence of burnout syndrome in oncology nursing: A meta‐analytic study

“…Low PA is 10% higher in nurses compared with oncologists, which may be because this same empathy and greater patient contact produces a negative effect when a patient dies, leading nurses to feel that their work is inadequate, and possibly even to contemplate their own death . Although cancer survival rates have significantly increased in the last years, cancer remains one of the biggest causes of premature adult death and one of the leading causes of death in the world (8.2 millions deaths in 2012) …”

Prevalence of Burnout and Career Satisfaction Among Oncologists in China: A National Survey

“…National research exploring the prevalence of physician burnout found that approximately 46% of U.S. physicians experienced burnout at the time of the study [9]. Studies among oncologists suggest an overall burnout incidence of 32% assessed by the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Service Survey [11]. For different disciplines, a point prevalence of 25%-48% among medical oncologists [12][13][14][15][16], 20%-40% among radiation oncologists [10,17], and 28%-36% among surgical oncologists [8,18,19] is reported.…”