Clarifying Constructs in the Muddled Field of Burnout Research

Burnout has easily become one of the most overused and poorly understood terms in our daily lexicon. Burnout research began in human services professions in the 1970s,¹ yet we have made little progress toward understanding its causes or designing meaningful interventions. Quantitative studies confirm, contradict, or add new predictors and antecedents to the list of burnout drivers regularly, but proven interventions have not been able to control an upward trend in physician burnout prevalence.² Instead, organizations are faced with an impossibly long list of burnout causes that range from age and sex to lack of resilience to electronic health records.²

Burnout sequelae include physical and emotional symptoms that reduce physician productivity and increase absenteeism, turnover that increases the workload for remaining staff and costs organizations hundreds of thousands of dollars, as well as more serious mental health disorders like depression and suicidal ideation.³ These outcomes affect organizations at a variety of levels, thus necessitating the role of the organization in preventing and mitigating burnout. However, I would argue a lack of true understanding of burnout is at the center of this issue.

Address correspondence to Tara F. McKinley, PhD, Pediatric Medical Education, University of Louisville, 571 South Floyd St, Suite 412, Louisville, KY 40202. E-mail: tara.mckinley{at}louisville.edu