Psychosocial interventions for managing occupational stress and burnout among medical doctors: a systematic review
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BACKGROUND: Occupational stress and burnout are highly prevalent among medical doctors and can have adverse effects on patient, doctor, and organisational outcomes. The purpose of the current study was to review and evaluate evidence on psychosocial interventions aimed at reducing occupational stress and burnout among medical doctors. METHOD: A systematic review was conducted for original research articles reporting on psychosocial interventions targeting occupational stress or burnout among medical doctors, published in the English language, and with data collected at a minimum of two time points. Searches were conducted across five electronic databases, as well as by manual search of Google Scholar. Data was extracted relating to study characteristics and outcomes, quality and rigour, as well as modes of delivery and engagement. Studies were appraised using the Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT) and Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP). RESULTS: Twenty-three articles were reviewed, which reported on interventions utilising cognitive-behavioural, relaxation, and supportive discussion strategies. Only 12 studies allowed estimation of pre- to post-intervention effects. Cognitive behavioural interventions demonstrated the strongest evidence, particularly for reducing stress. Some evidence was identified to support the efficacy of relaxation-based approaches, but no such evidence was found for the efficacy of discussion-based interventions, such as Balint groups. There was a lack of quality among reviewed studies, with no studies receiving a quality rating of 1, and the overall body of evidence being rated as level B, according to the SORT. Effect sizes were not pooled due to a lack of quality among the study sample. CONCLUSION: This review found that despite increased scientific attention, the quality of research examining the benefits of psychosocial/behavioural interventions for occupational stress and burnout in medical doctors remains low. Despite this, interventions focused on cognitive and behavioural principles appear to show promise in reducing doctor stress and burnout. Limitations of the current review include a lack of risk of bias assessment or pooling of analyses. Recommendations for improving the quality of research in this area, as well as implications of the current body of evidence are discussed. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42016032595.
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Interventions based on cognitive behavioral therapy are effective for stress reduction and mental health promotion in different types of health professionals.
“The effectiveness of interventions based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on stress reduction and mental health promotion has been widely proven for different types of health professionals [14-16].”
From Effectiveness of a Web-Based Self-Guided Intervention (MINDxYOU) for Reducing Stress and Promoting Mental Health Among Health Professionals: Results From a Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial (2025) · cites this paper as [16]
The Abstract Results and Conclusion report that cognitive and behavioural interventions show the strongest evidence for reducing stress among medical doctors, with some support for reducing burnout. The paper describes the evidence as low-quality and the interventions as promising, not “widely proven”; it does not establish effectiveness across other types of health professionals or mental-health outcomes beyond stress and burnout. (LLM, conf=0.89)
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- Authors
- Clough, B. A., March, S., Chan, R. J., Casey, L. M., Phillips, R., & Ireland, M. J.
- Affiliations
- Griffith University (AU)
- University of Southern Queensland (AU)
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- Queensland Health (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Clough, Bonnie A.
- Venue
- Systematic Reviews
- Published
- 2017-07-17
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 144-144
- ISSN
- 2046-4053 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5514490
- OpenAlex
- W2734893286
- Cited by
- 186
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 2.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Systematic Reviews (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Griffith Research Online (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- 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
- occupational stress, burnout, physicians, psychosocial interventions, cognitive-behavioural intervention, relaxation techniques, Balint groups, physician well-being, intervention efficacy
- MeSH terms
- Occupational Stress, Burnout, Professional, Humans, Physicians, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
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