The Problems With Burnout Research
Abstract
Burnout among physicians and physicians-in-training is well established as a potential threat to the health and well-being of health care providers and patients. However, there are myriad problems with current burnout research and its ongoing measurement that threaten the validity of the conclusions. For example, researchers have used differing ways of defining and measuring burnout. Those who have used the Maslach Burnout Inventory vary in recommended use of the instrument and cutoff scores. As a result, the authors suggest that the term “burnout” may be misused and recommend some reconsideration of the meaning of burnout. The measurement and discussion of burnout have strong implications for interventions and policy alike. In this article, the authors review the problems with burnout research and ask important questions about the future directions of research efforts. The authors recommend a consistent measurement approach and perhaps moving toward a focus on physician wellness from a positive psychology perspective.
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The approach avoided different ways to define and measure burnout.
“Our approach avoided different ways to define and measure burnout, which is the main limitation of current burnout research [97].”
From Prevalence of Burnout in Medical and Surgical Residents: A Meta-Analysis (2019) · cites this paper as [97]
Burnout, depression, and moral injury overlap but are not identical.
“burnout, depression, and moral injury overlap but are not identical”
From Individual-Focused Interventions for Physician Burnout: A Meta-Analysis of Mindfulness, Coaching, and Peer Support (2025) · cites this paper as [12]
The MBI has been used with many cutoffs and ad hoc burnout thresholds.
“the MBI has been used with many cutoffs and ad hoc “burnout” thresholds”
From Individual-Focused Interventions for Physician Burnout: A Meta-Analysis of Mindfulness, Coaching, and Peer Support (2025) · cites this paper as [12]
Current measures may not fully capture the complexity of burnout.
“current measures may not fully capture this complexity [12,13]”
From Individual-Focused Interventions for Physician Burnout: A Meta-Analysis of Mindfulness, Coaching, and Peer Support (2025) · cites this paper as [12]
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Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20311 · Cited by 4,200 · see citing works
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Physician burnout: contributors, consequences and solutions
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“Our approach avoided different ways to define and measure burnout, which is the main limitation of current burnout research [97].”
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- Authors
- Eckleberry-Hunt, J., Kirkpatrick, H., & Barbera, T.
- Affiliations
- Beaumont Health (US)
- Genesys Regional Medical Center (US)
- St Vincent Hospital (US)
- Corresponding author
- Eckleberry-Hunt, Jodie
- ORCID
- Kirkpatrick, Heather
- Venue
- Academic Medicine
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2018-03
- Volume
- 93
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 367-370
- ISSN
- 1040-2446 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2746652460
- Cited by
- 173
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 36.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Academic Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
- Keywords
- burnout, physician well-being, Maslach Burnout Inventory, burnout measurement, cut-off values, positive psychology
- MeSH terms
- Burnout, Professional, Health Personnel, Humans, Job Satisfaction, Physicians, Research, Epidemiologic Measurements, Workplace
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