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Intervention for physician burnout: A systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Burnout is an important problem for physicians, with a strong impact on their quality of life and a corresponding decrease in the quality of care with an evident economical burden for the healthcare system. However, the range of interventions used to decrease this problem could be very fragmented and with the aim to shed some light on this issue, this study reviews and summarizes the currently available studies. We conducted a systematic review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines to identify studies about intervention on physician burnout. Two authors independently searched into scientific databases to analyze and review the full papers that met the inclusion criteria. As a result, from an initial search of 11029 articles, 13 studies met full criteria and were included in this review. Of the 13 studies presented, only 4 utilized randomized controlled trials, therefore the results should be interpreted with caution. Future interventions should focus on a more holistic approach using a wider range of techniques. According to the studies selected in this review, it appears that a successful intervention for burnout should take into account the broad range of causes incorporating a variety of therapeutic tools.
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“In regard to therapeutic strategies, a 2018 systematic review of 13 studies summarizes the results of the research in proposing training, starting from medical graduation, or coping strategies, interpersonal skills, management of negative emotions and relaxation techniques.[63]”
From Burnout syndrome among medical residents: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2018) · cites this paper as [63]
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“Although limited, emerging evidence suggests that creative art therapies can also reduce burnout among healthcare providers [15, 16].”
From Recruitment, retention and recouperation: lessons learned from a study aimed at assessing burnout mitigation in physician learners (2025) · cites this paper as [16]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Wiederhold, B. K., Cipresso, P., Pizzioli, D., Wiederhold, M., & Riva, G.
- Affiliations
- Virtual Reality Medical Center (US)
- Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (IT)
- Virtual Reality Medical Institute (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Wiederhold, Brenda K
- Venue
- Open Medicine
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2018-01-01
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 253-263
- ISSN
- 1895-1058 (ISSN-L)
- 2391-5463
- PMC
- PMC6034099
- OpenAlex
- W2836537003
- Cited by
- 161
- References
- 77
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 2.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Open Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Research Information System University of Turin (University of Turin) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Occupational Health and Burnout
- Keywords
- physician burnout, burnout intervention, medical workforce, quality of care, quality of life, holistic intervention, therapeutic tools
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