Abstract
Physician burnout, as a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job, has been associated
with suboptimal patient care and deterioration in the patient–provider relationship. Although prior studies have identified
a range of factors associated with decreased patient satisfaction, most have been conducted in tertiary care settings, with
staff burnout examined at the hospital unit-level. To examine the impact of physician burnout on patient satisfaction from
consultation in the primary care setting, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in Western Greece. Using a one-with-many
design, 30 physicians and 300 of their patients, randomly selected, responded to the survey. Results showed that patient satisfaction
correlated significantly with physician emotional exhaustion (r = −.636, p < .01) and physician depersonalization (r = −.541, p < .01). Mixed-effects multilevel models indicated that 34.4% of total variation in patients’ satisfaction occurred at the
physician level, after adjustment for patients’ characteristics. Moreover, physician emotional exhaustion and depersonalization
remained significant factors associated with patient satisfaction with consultation, after controlling for patient and physician
characteristics. Patients of physicians with high-exhaustion and high-depersonalization had significantly lower satisfaction
scores, compared with patients of physicians with low-exhaustion and low-depersonalization, respectively. Future studies need
to explore the mechanisms by which physician burnout affects patient satisfaction.
with suboptimal patient care and deterioration in the patient–provider relationship. Although prior studies have identified
a range of factors associated with decreased patient satisfaction, most have been conducted in tertiary care settings, with
staff burnout examined at the hospital unit-level. To examine the impact of physician burnout on patient satisfaction from
consultation in the primary care setting, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in Western Greece. Using a one-with-many
design, 30 physicians and 300 of their patients, randomly selected, responded to the survey. Results showed that patient satisfaction
correlated significantly with physician emotional exhaustion (r = −.636, p < .01) and physician depersonalization (r = −.541, p < .01). Mixed-effects multilevel models indicated that 34.4% of total variation in patients’ satisfaction occurred at the
physician level, after adjustment for patients’ characteristics. Moreover, physician emotional exhaustion and depersonalization
remained significant factors associated with patient satisfaction with consultation, after controlling for patient and physician
characteristics. Patients of physicians with high-exhaustion and high-depersonalization had significantly lower satisfaction
scores, compared with patients of physicians with low-exhaustion and low-depersonalization, respectively. Future studies need
to explore the mechanisms by which physician burnout affects patient satisfaction.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-10
- DOI 10.1007/s10880-011-9278-8
- Authors
- Fotios Anagnostopoulos, Department of Psychology, Panteion University, 136 Syngrou Avenue, 176 71 Athens, Greece
- Evangelos Liolios, Chalandritsa Health Center, Patras, Greece
- George Persefonis, Eginition Hospital, University of Athens, Athens, Greece
- Julie Slater, College of Human and Health Sciences, Swansea University, Swansea, SA2 8PP UK
- Kostas Kafetsios, Department of Psychology, University of Crete, Crete, Greece
- Dimitris Niakas, Faculty of Social Sciences, Hellenic Open University, Patras, Greece
- Journal Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings
- Online ISSN 1573-3572
- Print ISSN 1068-9583