Dataset Information

Physician burnout in the Eastern Mediterranean region: influence of gender and related factors - Systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

While recent reviews highlight high burnout prevalence among physicians in the World Health Organization's (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), there has been a limited exploration into the role of gender and related factors in this problem.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on the prevalence of physician burnout and its relationship to gender, physician specialties, and age in the WHO's EMR based on the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews. We searched PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and Al Manhal databases and synthesized the findings from the included studies.

Results

Among the 78 studies included, data was available from 16/22 (72.7%) countries and territories in the EMR covering a total of 16 016 physicians. The pooled prevalence of overall burnout among physicians in the region was estimated to be 24.5%. Among the sub-components of burnout, we estimated a high pooled prevalence of 44.26% for emotional exhaustion followed by 37.83% for depersonalization and 36.57% for low personal achievement. There was a statistically significant difference in the prevalence across the countries in the EMR and among the sub-categories of specialist medical practitioners. There was no statistically significant difference across the two genders at a regionally aggregated level.

Conclusions

The levels of physician burnout including the three sub-components in EMR are high by any standards. Based on our review of available studies, it is difficult to ascertain gender differences with certainty in burnout levels among physicians in the EMR nations. There is a need for better quality studies in this area.

SUBMITTER: Doraiswamy S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8285757 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Objectives: To synthesize the prevalence of mental and substance use disorders in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) of the World Health Organization. Methods: The literature search was conducted across several databases in two phases. First, we searched for systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses published before 2014, reporting prevalence estimates for mental disorders in the EMR. Then, we identified new primary cross-sectional or longitudinal studies published between 2014 and 2020. Studies were included if they had a sample size of ≥ 450 and were conducted among the general adult population. Current, period and lifetime prevalence estimates for each disorder were pooled using random-effects meta-analyses, and subgroup analyses and meta-regressions were conducted. Findings: Prevalence estimates were extracted from 54 cross-sectional studies across 15 countries within the EMR. Pooled analyses of current, period and lifetime prevalence showed the highest prevalence for depression (14.8%, 95% confidence interval, CI: 10.7-20.1%), followed by generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) (10.4%, 95% CI: 7.1-14.7%), post-traumatic stress disorder (7.2%, 95% CI: 2.9-16.6%), substance use (4.0%, 95% CI: 3.1-5.2%), obsessive compulsive disorder (2.8%, 95% CI: 1.6-4.9%), phobic disorders (1.8%, 95% CI: 1.1-2.8%), panic disorders (1.1%, 95% CI: 0.6-2.2%), bipolar disorders (0.7%, 95% CI: 0.3-1.6%), and psychosis (0.5%, 95% CI: 0.3-0.9%). Populations exposed to adverse events had higher prevalence of mental disorders than the general population. Period and lifetime prevalence showed little difference across mental disorders. More pronounced differences in prevalence were seen for depression and GAD, specifically between current and lifetime prevalence (depression: current prevalence 20.5% (95% CI: 14.9-27.4%), vs. lifetime prevalence: 4.2% (95%CI: 1.8-9.6%); GAD: current prevalence 10.3% (95% CI: 6.1-17.0), vs. lifetime prevalence: 4.5% (95% CI: 2.4-8.3%). Differences between current and lifetime prevalence of mental disorders may be due to the use of different screening instruments and thresholds being applied. Conclusion: The prevalence of mental and substance use disorders in the EMR is high. Despite substantial inter-survey heterogeneity, our estimates align with previous global and regional data on mental disorders. Our meta-review provides new evidence on the burden of mental health problems in the EMR. Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO, https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42020187388.