Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41048061›Full record

SynthesisOccupational medicine (Oxford, England)2025

Measurement of doctor wellbeing prior to the Covid pandemic: a methodological systematic review.

G Simons, D Opalinski, J Jenkins, E Boxley, D S Baldwin

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Occupational medicine (Oxford, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
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

5 authors.

G SimonsCentre for Workforce Wellbeing, University Department of Psychiatry, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3DT, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-2454-5948
D OpalinskiSt Mary's Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Praed Street, London, W2 1NY, UK.
J JenkinsSt Georges University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London SW17 0QT, UK.
E BoxleyClinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Tremona Road, Southampton, Hampshire, SO166YD, UK.
D S BaldwinClinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Tremona Road, Southampton, Hampshire, SO166YD, UK.

Funding

Health Education England South
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is no consensus definition of wellbeing, yet it is a key outcome for workforces.

aimsTo describe which wellbeing outcomes had been measured in doctors and which wellbeing outcome measurement instruments had been used with doctors.

methodsA methodological review of existing literature. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PsycINFO and the International Bibliography of Social Science were searched for all study types, in all languages. Wellbeing outcomes were categorized as being operationalized in the aims, methods or results and by whether the outcome used to represent wellbeing included the word wellbeing, another positive concept, a pathological symptom, a pathology and were work- or doctor-specific. The outcome measurement instruments used were then categorized and the frequency collected.

resultsA total of 218 studies were included in this review. The total number of unique outcomes used to capture wellbeing in the eligible studies was 57, with 369 non-unique outcomes. Two hundred and fifty-eight of the outcomes used contained the word wellbeing, its components and other positive concepts. For the outcome 'general wellbeing' alone, 92 different measurement tools were used. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was the most frequently used measurement tool for all outcomes and was used in 34 studies.

conclusionsWellbeing has been measured heterogeneously in doctors in terms of the outcomes and the outcome measurement instruments used. In approximately one-third of the times it was measured, the best that could be achieved was an absence of pathological symptoms, as a negative concept operationalized it.

Indexed as

Burnout, ProfessionalCOVID-19PhysiciansHumansPandemicsSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID41048061
PMCPMC12794918

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.