Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34327656›Full record

Observational studyJournal of general internal medicine2022

Identifying and Prioritizing Workplace Climate Predictors of Burnout Among VHA Primary Care Physicians.

Ryan Sterling, Seppo T Rinne, Ashok Reddy, Megan Moldestad, Peter Kaboli, Christian D Helfrich, Nora B Henrikson, Karin M Nelson, Catherine Kaminetzky, Edwin S Wong

Open access · bronzeAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Journal of general internal medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. "Kind of Feel Like the Lone Outpost": A Qualitative Exploration of Barriers to Professional Development for Rural Primary Care Providers at the Veterans Health Administration.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Ryan SterlingCenter for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA. ryan.sterling@va.gov.ORCID 0000-0003-1217-5409
Seppo T RinneVA Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, Bedford, MA, USA.
Ashok ReddyCenter for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.
Megan MoldestadCenter for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.
Peter KaboliIowa City VA Medical Center and University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Christian D HelfrichCenter for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.
Nora B HenriksonKaiser Permanente Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Karin M NelsonCenter for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.
Catherine KaminetzkyCenter for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.
Edwin S WongCenter for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA, USA.
VA Puget Sound Health Care System · USUniversity of Washington · USKaiser Permanente · USUniversity of Iowa · US

Funding

Identifying Value-Driven Approaches to Strengthening the VA Physician WorkforceI01HX002121 · VA · VA PUGET SOUND HEALTHCARE SYSTEM · PI WONG, EDWIN S. · 2018 to 2021
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Applying Relational Coordination to Implement a Pulmonary E-consult InterventionIK2HX002248 · VA · EDITH NOURSE ROGERS MEMORIAL VETERANS HOSPITAL · PI RINNE, SEPPO T · 2019 to 2024
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HSRD VA I01 HX002121HSRD VA I01 HX002540HSRD VA IK2 HX002248VA 15-363
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveBurnout, or job-related stress, affects more than half of all US physicians, with primary care physicians (PCPs) experiencing some of the highest rates in medicine. Our study analyzes national survey data to identify and prioritize workplace climate predictors of burnout among PCPs within a large integrated health system.

designObservational study of annual survey data from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) All Employee Survey (AES) for 2013-2017. AES response rate ranged from 56 to 60% during the study period. Independent and dependent variables were measured from separate random samples. In total, 8,456 individual-level responses among PCPs at 110 VHA practice sites were aggregated at the facility level by reporting year. We used the semi-automated LASSO procedure to identify workplace climate measures that were more influential in predicting burnout and assessed relative importance using the Shapely value decomposition.

participantsVHA employees that self-identify as PCPs. MAIN MEASURES: Dependent variables included two dichotomous measures of burnout: emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Independent measures included 30 survey measures related to dimensions of workplace climate (e.g., workload, leadership, satisfaction).

resultsWe identified seven influential workplace climate predictors of emotional exhaustion and nine predictors of depersonalization. With few exceptions, higher agreement/satisfaction scores for predictors were associated with a lower likelihood of burnout. The majority of explained variation in emotional exhaustion was attributable to perceptions of workload (32.6%), organization satisfaction (28.2%), and organization support (19.4%). The majority of explained variation in depersonalization was attributable to workload (25.3%), organization satisfaction (22.9%), and connection to VHA mission (20.7%).

conclusionIdentifying the relative importance of workplace climate is important for the allocation of health organization resources to mitigate and prevent burnout within the PCP workplace. In a context of limited resources, efforts to reduce perceived workload and improve organization satisfaction may represent the biggest leverage points for health organizations to address physician burnout.

Indexed as

Burnout, ProfessionalPhysicians, Primary CareCross-Sectional StudiesHumansJob SatisfactionSurveys and QuestionnairesWorkloadWorkplacehealthcare workforcephysician burnoutworkplace climate

Identifiers

PMID34327656
PMCPMC8321506
OpenAlexW3184755874

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.