Burnout and work-privacy conflict – are there differences between full-time and part-time physicians?

Abstract

Background Changes in everyday work with regard to working time models have reached the medical profession. The number of physicians working part-time is steadily increasing. At the same time, however, the population's need for care is also rising. This can reinforce the impending shortage of doctors in the future. The aim was to investigate differences in work-privacy conflict and burnout among physicians working full-time or part-time. Method The present study includes data from a baseline survey of the long-term study of physicians with different medical backgrounds. The analysis focused on a sub-sample of 598 physicians (not self-employed). The two main outcomes under investigation—burnout and work-privacy conflict—were measured using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory adapted for health care professionals, as well as the associated subscale of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ). Data analyses included descriptive statistics followed by regression models. Results Descriptive analyses show, that 31.8% of physicians are working part-time, whereas 68.2% are working full-time. The part-time subsample is significantly older, and female physicians are more likely to work part-time. With regard to workload and work-privacy conflict, significant differences between part-time and full-time physicians were only observed in terms of work-privacy-conflict. However, regression analysis underline the importance of possible confounding variables (such as medical setting) within the relationship between job size and job-related well-being. Discussion Differences in working hour arrangements (full-time or part-time work) are only accompanied by less work-privacy conflict. No differences with regard to burnout (patient-related, work-related or personal) could be obtained. Rather, the data suggests that other job-related variables may play a role and should be further investigated.

Beyond the Hype: (How) Are Work Regimes Associated with Job Burnout?

“…In short, they suggest that shorter work regimes are not accompanied by a lower burnout risk. In line with the previous study among physicians [ 15 ], our study also confirmed that female and younger individuals were more prone to developing burnout. However, in contrast to the previous study among physicians [ 15 ], our participants with schedule flexibility did not experience a lower burnout risk compared to participants with no schedule flexibility.…”

“…First, the results of our descriptive analysis confirmed that part-time work is not accompanied by lower burnout risk and that part-time employees experience the same (degree of) burnout symptoms as their full-time counterparts. These findings are similar to those of previous studies among physicians [ 15 ] and teachers [ 16 ] that found no objective differences in burnout risk among part-time and full-time employees.…”

“…We operationalised this control variable with the question “How many overtime hours do you perform on average per week?”. Furthermore, the aforementioned study on work regimes and burnout among physicians links being female and younger to an increased risk of burnout [ 15 ], whereas the flexibility to choose working hours may reduce the risk of burnout [ 8 , 15 ]. Therefore, we additionally included gender, age and flexibility in working hours as control variables.…”

“…More specifically, only one small sample study ( n = 28) among Swedish social workers finds lower levels of emotional exhaustion after a 25% working time reduction [ 13 ]. Conversely, an adjacent longitudinal intervention study on limiting working hours [ 14 ] suggest that working time reduction may not per se reduce the risk of burnout [ 15 ]. However, at present, the relationship between work regimes and burnout remains relatively unexplored territory.…”

“…On the one hand, one study among 345 full-time and 77 part-time physicians with a single-item measure of burnout concluded that part-time workers report less burnout [ 9 ]. On the other hand, a recent study with more extensive burnout measures (Copenhagen Burnout Inventory) found no objective differences in burnout risk among 408 full-time and 190 part-time physicians [ 15 ]. Similar to the latter findings, a recent study among 6109 full-time and 5905 part-time teachers found that part-time and full-time teachers do not differ in their risk of burnout (measured via Maslach Burnout Inventory) [ 16 ].…”