Spiritual health is associated with lower levels of burn-out in physicians

1. This systematic review found that low levels of spirituality correlated with high burn-out levels in medical doctors.

2. However, there was no significant association between religion and burn-out in the same population.

Evidence Rating Level: 1 (Excellent)

Physicians experience high levels of burn-out, which has become an increasing concern following the COVID-19 pandemic. Burn-out can have many adverse effects on physician well-being and can result in early retirement or resignation. Prior studies have shown that spiritual health and burn-out may be related. However, the impact that spirituality has on burn-out in medical doctors is not well defined. Thus, the present study aimed to assess the association between burn-out and spiritual health in physicians.

Of 1,049 identified records, 40 studies were included from database inception to March 2022. Studies were included if they had quantified data relating to both burn-out and spiritual health in physicians from any specialty or level of training. Broad definitions of spirituality and burn-out were used, and studies that measured aspects that were considered close to burn-out and spiritual health were included. Editorials and commentaries were excluded. The review was carried out according to PRISMA guidelines. The study quality was assessed using the AXIS tool. The primary outcome was the association between spirituality and burn-out in medical doctors.

The results demonstrated that many studies found an association between spiritual health and lower levels of burn-out in medical doctors. However, there was no significant association between religion and burn-out in physicians. Furthermore, studies that used a broader definition of spirituality rather than looking more specifically at religion were more likely to demonstrate a correlation between burn-out and spirituality. However, the review was limited by the heterogeneity of the included studies, which prevented the possibility of a meta-analysis. Nonetheless, the study demonstrated that spiritual health may be an important factor in preventing burn-out in medical doctors.

Click to read the study in BMJ Open

Image: PD

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