The Prevalence of Occupational Burnout Among Ophthalmologists: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Cheung, Ronald; Yu, Brian; Iordanous, Yiannis; Malvankar-Mehta, Monali S

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of occupational burnout among ophthalmologists in order to better understand the mental and physical well-being of eye physicians and surgeons in the professional workplace. STUDY DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: Online computer databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses were searched systematically and thoroughly. Conferences held through Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, American Academy of Ophthalmology, and Canadian Society of Ophthalmology were searched. Studies were screened using Covidence software. Data on reported burnout prevalence was extracted. STATA 15.0 was used to conduct meta-analysis.Synthesis: Our search strategy identified 318 records from online databases and 11 records from grey literature search, which were screened at 2-levels. Title and abstracts of each record were screened resulting in 24 records moving to full-text screening. Total of 9 records were utilized for quantitative analysis in the data extraction stage. Our results indicated significant professional burnout among ophthalmologists (ES = 0.41; CI: [0.26, 0.56]) with significant emotional exhaustion (ES = 0.43; CI: [0.33, 0.53]), depersonalization (ES = 0.29; CI: [0.13, 0.46]), and a low sense of personal accomplishment (ES = 0.36; CI: [0.08, 0.63]). CONCLUSIONS: Significant occupational burnout among ophthalmologists is concerning because burnout can have a negative effect on the physical and mental health of eye physicians and surgeons. It could impact productivity, cutbacks in work hours, or lead to early retirement from the profession. Contributing factors in ophthalmologist burnout including work overload need to be addressed in a timely manner.