ArticleInternational archives of occupational and environmental health2014
Less work: more burnout? A comparison of working conditions and the risk of burnout by German physicians before and after the implementation of the EU Working Time Directive.
Article in International archives of occupational and environmental health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The impact of shortening shifts of physicians during their residency on patients and physicians : A systematic review and meta-analysis.Israel journal of health policy research · 2025Pooled it
- How does burnout affect physician productivity? A systematic literature review.BMC health services research · 2014Pooled it
- Building a data-driven evaluation framework of physician wellness initiatives: a rapid review.BMJ open · 2026Review
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- Effectiveness of organization-directed interventions on healthcare professionals' well-being: a systematic review.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Mental health of rural doctors and influencing factors in Hebei, China.Primary health care research & development · 2025Article
- Workload and GP burnout: a survey and register-based study in Danish general practice.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Burnout, work engagement and work hours - how physicians' decision to work less is associated with work-related factors.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Beyond the Hype: (How) Are Work Regimes Associated with Job Burnout?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Burnout and work-privacy conflict - are there differences between full-time and part-time physicians?BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Hospital physicians´ working hour characteristics and sleep quality: a cross-sectional analysis of realized working hour and survey data.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- The impact of rest breaks on subjective fatigue in physicians of the General Hospital of Vienna.Wiener klinische Wochenschrift · 2022Article
- Identifying and Prioritizing Workplace Climate Predictors of Burnout Among VHA Primary Care Physicians.Journal of general internal medicine · 2022Observational
- Long working hours and burnout in health care workers: Non-linear dose-response relationship and the effect mediated by sleeping hours-A cross-sectional study.Journal of occupational health · 2021Article
- The experiences of general practitioner partners living with distress: An interpretative phenomenological analysis.Journal of health psychology · 2020Article
- IdentifyingApplied research in quality of life · 2020Article
- Turning a new “page”: ways to decrease the number of pages after hours without compromising patient careCanadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie · 2020Article
- Workplace-Based Organizational Interventions Promoting Mental Health and Happiness among Healthcare Workers: A Realist Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Review
- Burnout Syndrome in Physicians-Psychological Assessment and Biomarker Research.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2019Article
- Addressing Palliative Care Clinician Burnout in Organizations: A Workforce Necessity, an Ethical Imperative.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2017Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe present study is a 10-year comparison (1997 vs. 2007) of occupational and health aspects before and after the implementation of the European Working Time Directive on German hospital physicians. A major focus is whether the changes in working conditions are accompanied by a lower risk for burnout.
methodsThree hundred and twenty-eight physicians from the Medical Register of the city of Hamburg completed the survey in 1997 and 994 physicians in 2007. The response rates were 55.4 and 46.5 %, respectively. All participants filled in a 22-item version of the German translation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results of multivariate covariance analyses are reported.
resultsThe work of physicians has changed significantly within the 10-year period, for example, work time decreased by 4.5 h on average to 55.8 h per week in 2007. Junior physicians profited more from this development, but on-call duties increased for senior physicians in particular. The reduced hours were at the expense of fewer rests. Junior, as well as senior, physicians reported significantly higher rates on the burnout scale for emotional exhaustion (mean 21.8, SD 10.7) in the latter survey and senior physicians also on the depersonalization scale (mean 9.7, SD 6.3).
conclusionsChanges in working conditions in accordance with the European Working Time Directive are not accompanied by reduced strain and risk of burnout for physicians. Rather, our data argue for greater intensification in work, especially for senior physicians. Further studies are suggested in order to explore interventions for a sustainable improvement in the working conditions of physicians.
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