Symptoms of Burnout Among Surgeons Are Correlated with a Higher Incidence of Perceived Medical Errors

Nearly 44% of practicing physicians in the USA report symptoms of burnout. Psychological distress and loss of joy in medicine are associated with malpractice lawsuits and attrition from medical practice and may correlate with the rate of perceived medical errors. We sought to answer two questions: (1) What physician factors are associated with the number of perceived medical errors among practicing surgeons in the prior 3 months? (2) What characteristics are associated with symptoms of burnout among practicing surgeons? We created a cross-sectional survey and invited members of the Science of Variation Group to respond between December 2018 and January 2019. Participating surgeons completed the Abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory, the two-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2), and information about practice characteristics and demographics. We created a negative binomial and a multivariable linear regression model to seek factors independently associated with the number of perceived medical errors and symptoms of burnout. A greater level of emotional exhaustion was associated with a greater number of perceived medical errors, while practice location in Europe was associated with fewer perceived errors. A higher PHQ-2 score was independently associated with symptoms of burnout. It is possible that symptoms of burnout cause surgeons to be more likely to perceive an imperfection as an error or that burnout distracts surgeons, contributing to a greater likelihood of a verifiable error. Additional studies are merited to investigate a potential causal relationship between symptoms of burnout and medical errors.