In its new International Classification of Diseases, ICD-11, “Burnout” has been classified as a true syndrome by the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO now recognizes burnout as chronic workplace stress that has not been appropriately managed, associated with exhaustion, cynicism toward a job and reduced professional efficacy. There is evidence that prevalence of burnout among medical physicians is twice that of other professions, related to physicians needing to perform at a high cognitive level with heavy workloads and serious consequences of error. With increased scope of practice, optometrists have these same risks.

Unfortunately, due to previous studies’ varied definitions of burnout, the prevalence rates found have a large range, from 0% to 80.5% in one meta-analysis. There is little information on burnout in optometry, but the largest study to date has been of Australian optometrists.  That study found high burnout comparable to medical physicians, but it did not report an overall prevalence based on all three domains of burnout.

With the WHO definition of burnout, new studies will need to be conducted across healthcare disciplines using the same diagnostic criteria so that better comparisons can be established. Also, with the amount of burnout associated with healthcare workers, early assessment or even prevention of burnout is needed to assure the well-being of the healthcare community and quality patient care. For this to occur, better predictors of physician burnout must be identified, particularly within those disciplines, including optometry, that have not been well-represented in previous studies.

A study has been launched to determine the prevalence of and predictors of healthcare burnout in U.S. optometrists, by one of our own, Jeffrey L. Weaver, OD, who is completing a PhD in psychology. While burnout has not been consistently defined among previous studies, this study will adhere to the WHO definition, to assure an accurate prevalence for future comparison with optometrists in other countries and with other healthcare providers. Survey data will be used to determine if the factors of practice type and workload may influence burnout and could be considered predictors. Predictors will be used to theorize appropriate interventions and their timing.

Please help to improve the validity of this study by adding your input to the survey. As an incentive, Dr. Weaver is offering a chance at a $500 gift card and 5 $100 gift cards to participants who will be drawn randomly at the completion of the study. Please note that this survey does take 15 minutes to complete. Please take the time to contribute to your profession by clicking on the following link:

TAKE SURVEY

Jeffrey L. Weaver, OD, MBA, MS
Ph.D. Candidate, Liberty University
(724) 627-2020
JLWeaverOD@gmail.com