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Comparative Study
. 2019 Feb 6;14(2):e0211223.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211223. eCollection 2019.

Prevalence of burnout among German general practitioners: Comparison of physicians working in solo and group practices

Annegret Dreher  1 , Mirjam Theune  2 , Christine Kersting  2 , Franziska Geiser  3 , Birgitta Weltermann  1
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Prevalence of burnout among German general practitioners: Comparison of physicians working in solo and group practices

Annegret Dreher et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Studies from general practitioner (GP) populations from various European countries show a high prevalence of burnout, yet data from Germany are scarce and there are no data comparing GPs from solo versus group practices.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey addressed all GPs from a German network of family medicine practices comprising 185 practices. Participants were asked to fill in a self-administered questionnaire addressing socio-demographic and job-related characteristics. The German version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to measure the dimensions emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA). Each participant was categorized as having high EE, high DP and low PA following pre-defined cut-offs.

Results: A total of 214 GPs from 129 practices participated: 65.9% male, 24.8% solo practice. Of all GPs, 34.1% (n = 73) scored high for EE, 29.0% (n = 62) high for DP, 21.5% (n = 46) low for PA and 7.5% (n = 16) for all three dimensions. A higher risk for EE was found among female physicians, those unsatisfied with their job, those using few stress-regulating measures regularly and those reporting bad work-life balance. Burnout prevalence was higher in GPs in group than in solo practices (37.9% vs. 28.8% had high EE, 33.1% vs. 18.9% had high DP and 22.8% vs. 18.9% had low PA). A significantly higher prevalence of burnout symptoms was found in group practice employees compared to group practice owners.

Conclusion: Burnout prevalence was higher among physicians in group practices compared to solo practices. In group practices, employed, young, female and part-time working physicians showed a higher burnout risk.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Burnout prevalence among general practitioners (n = 214) stratified by solo and group practices.
Group practices (n = 158) were additionally stratified by working status (practice owner vs. practice employee); emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and personal accomplishment (PA).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Publication types

Grants and funding

Funding for this study was provided by the Ministry of Culture and Science, North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, formerly the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research, North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany. https://www.mkw.nrw/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.