Burnout and depression are two factors that affect the number of errors made by American surgeons, according to a confidential study conducted by The Mayo Clinic in collaboration with the American College of Surgeons and John Hopkins.  The findings of this study in which American surgeons self-reported their errors can be found in the online edition of Annals of Surgery.

Of the U.S. surgeons responding in the study, almost 9% admitted to making a major error in the three month time period before being surveyed.  Of that 9%, more than 70% blamed themselves for the error instead of attributing the error to an organizational or systematic cause.  In the confidential study it was revealed that depersonalization, perception of personal accomplishments, and emotional exhaustion – all components of burnout – were related to the errors that were made.  Surgeons who participated also admitted that “mental quality of life,” i.e. depression, was to blame for errors made.

All of the 7,905 surgeons who participated in the study completed standardized survey tools designed to measure symptoms of depression, quality of life and burnout.  700 of the 7,905 surgeons, or 8.9% reported making what they consider major medical errors (grounds for medical malpractice).  Additionally, the surgeons provided information on a wide scope of professional and personal characteristics.  After analyzing the data, researchers found that factors such as number of hours worked, number of nights on call in a one-week time period, compensation and work environment had little to no impact on the medical errors made.  It was determined that reducing the number of work hours without addressing burnout issues would have little impact on reducing the number of major errors made.

According to Tait Shanafelt, M.D. and lead author of the study, “These results suggest that a surgeon’s personal mental health including burnout may have an effect on quality of care.  Our aim is to encourage more research to find ways to reduce distress amount surgeons and to provide better support when errors occur.”  Authors of the study suggest that medical errors not only contribute to distress, but can mentally haunt surgeons for a prolonged time period – even years.

Other authors who took part in the study include Gerald Bechamps, M.D. of Winchester Surgical Clinic; Julie Freischlag, M.D., and Charles Balch, M.D. of John Hopkins; Jeff Sloan, Ph.D., Paul Novotny, Lotte Dyrbye, M.D., and Daniel Satele, all of the Mayo Clinic; and Tom Russell, M.D., and Paul Collicott, M.D., of the American College of Surgeons, which commissioned and supported the study.  At the time the survey was conducted, Dr. Bechamps was chairman of the ACS Committee on Physician Competency and Health.  Dr. Russell is the ACS executive director; Drs. Balch, Freischlag and Collicott are all Fellows of the ACS.

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of “the needs of the patient come first.” More than 3,300 physicians, scientists and researchers and 46,000 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has sites in Rochester, Minn., Jacksonville, Fla., and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. Collectively, the three locations treat more than half a million people each year.

Source: Mayo Clinic