Gender Differences in Personal and Organizational Mechanisms to Address Burnout Among Family Physicians

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Demographic and Practice Characteristics of Family Physician Survey Participants (n = 2169)

Demographic Characteristics	n (%)	Practice Characteristics	n (%)
Gender (n = 2169)		Practice Site (n = 1941)
Female	1257 (58.0)	Hospital/health system-owned medical practice	477 (24.6)
Male	912 (42.0)	Independently-owned medical practice	352 (18.1)
Age (n = 2146)		Managed care/HMO practice	328 (16.9)
Under 40	459 (21.4)	Academic health center/faculty practice	176 (9.1)
40–49	681 (31.7)	Government	435 (22.4)
50–59	567 (26.4)	Workplace clinic	18 (0.9)
60 or Older	439 (20.5)	Other	155 (8.0)
Degree Type (n = 2169)		Practice Size (n = 1930)
DO	216 (10.0)	Solo practice	132 (6.8)
MD	1953 (90.0)	2–5 providers	449 (23.3)
Race (n = 1930)		6–20 providers	555 (28.8)
American Indian/Alaska Native	8 (0.4)	>20 providers	794 (41.1)
Asian	463 (24.0)	Practice Setting (n = 1935)
Black or African American	84 (4.4)	Urban (250,000+ population)	985 (50.9)
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander	22 (1.1)	Micropolitan (20,000-250,000 population)	681 (35.2)
White	1195 (61.9)	Large rural (2,500–19,999 population)	221 (11.4)
Other	158 (8.2)	Small rural/remote (<2,500 population)	48 (2.5)
Ethnicity (n = 1910)		Practice ownership (n = 1932)
Hispanic or Latino	237 (12.4)	No official ownership stake	1197 (62.0)
Non-Hispanic	1673 (87.6)	Self-employed as a contractor	82 (4.2)
Burnout (n = 2115)		Partial owner or shareholder	449 (23.2)
Yes	1124 (53.1)	Sole owner	133 (6.9)
No	991 (46.9)	Other	71 (3.7)

Table 2.

Personal Steps Taken to Address Burnout by Gender

Personal Steps Taken	Female (n = 1252)		Male (n = 899)		False Discovery Rate P Value
Personal Steps Taken	n	%	n	%	False Discovery Rate P Value
Started/maintained a regular exercise or mindfulness regimen	666	53.2	487	54.2	.9016
Reduced my overall work hours or went part time	538	43.0	276	30.7	<.0001
Employed a housekeeper and/or nanny/babysitter	437	34.9	137	15.2	<.0001
Reduced my clinical work hours specifically	374	29.9	252	28.0	.5898
Spent more time on hobbies	367	29.3	328	36.5	.0028
Talked to a professional therapist/counselor	285	22.8	127	14.1	<.0001
Took time off/leave of absence	262	20.9	193	21.5	.9016
Delegated job responsibilities	243	19.4	201	22.4	.2620
Gave up job responsibilities	223	17.8	199	22.1	.0531
Took on significant new job responsibilities which I enjoy	221	17.7	158	17.6	.9633
Participated in formal wellness program	134	10.7	79	8.8	.3237
None	87	6.9	75	8.3	.4054
Joined a support group	59	4.7	24	2.7	.0545

Table 3.

Organizational Support Provided to Support Worker Well-Being, by Gender

Organizational Support	Female (n = 1130)		Male (n = 810)		False Discovery Rate P Value
Organizational Support	n	%	n	%	False Discovery Rate P Value
Appropriate ratio of physicians to nurses/medical assistants	405	35.8	295	36.4	.9016
Access to behavioral health services	392	34.7	259	32.0	.4054
Flexible work hours	266	23.5	192	23.7	.9633
Protected time to complete nonclinical tasks	242	21.4	179	22.1	.9016
Formal wellness program	242	21.4	178	22.0	.9016
None (no support for worker well-being)	235	20.8	160	19.8	.8962
Flexible paid time off	225	19.9	186	23.0	.2620
Lactation room	134	11.9	63	7.8	.0167
Exercise room	96	8.5	88	10.9	.2472
Scribe	78	6.9	68	8.4	.4054