Association of Sleep Disorders With Physician Burnout

Abstract

Physicians’ mental health concerns affect the quality of life of caregivers, patient safety, health care expenditures, and occupational turnover. More than half of US physicians report burnout. Sleep deficiency is common—often a consequence of rotating or extended-duration shifts, night call, and competing demands. Sleep disturbance is a predictor of depression, and insufficient sleep may contribute to the development of burnout. Medical residents report that prolonged work hours negatively affect their quality of life. These factors suggest that sleep deficiency may be an underlying contributor to poor mental health in physicians. We sought to identify the prevalence of sleep disorders and estimate the cross-sectional association between sleep disorders and burnout symptoms among faculty and staff in a large teaching hospital system.