Technostress as source of physician burnout: An exploration of the associations between technology usage and physician burnout

Background: The cause of physician burnout is multifactorial. Health care systems pressures, excessive workloads, fatigue, poor self-care, administrative burdens, work hours, technological advancements, and work-home life conflicts, are all prominent themes throughout the literature. To date, little is known about whether, and to what extent, stressors related to the use of information and communication technology (ICT) use, other than electronic health records, outside of working hours, contribute to physician burnout.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore whether work related ICT use outside of working hours is associated with physician burnout.Method: A cross-sectional survey delivered online using The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), a Physician Technology Usage Scale (PTUS) (and 7 personal characteristics questions. Data were analyzed using bivariate correlations, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests, and multiple linear regression. Results: Of 2,108 participants invited to complete the survey, 403 responded to and completed the survey (19% response rate). Results identified two significant factors associated with physician burnout: work related technology use outside of working hours, and the number of years in practice.Conclusion: This research highlights the need for additional in-depth research into areas such as: 1. work-home life issues and how the use of technology outside of work hours may affect or be affected by burnout; 2. physician age and experience and burnout; 3. The differences between specialties and whether and how specialty-specific factors are related to burnout.