Vil utbrente leger føre til uheldig pasientbehandling?

Background: Physician burnout is a growing issue with potentially harmful effects on both physicians and their patients. Physician burnout leads to less patient satisfaction and more clinician-rated adverse patient outcomes. However, the literature is scarce regarding its objective effects on patient outcomes. Objectives: This study´s aim was to examine the objective relationship between physician burnout and adverse patient outcomes through a review of the literature. Research design: Systematic search in the MEDLINE and Embase databases, using MeSH-words and keywords. Studies needed to be in English, published after 2007, measure physician burnout as a predictor and include objective measures of patient outcomes. In total, 358 articles were reviewed and 10 were included in the final analysis. Measures: All studies measured patient outcomes by objective clinical measures (observed quality of care and medical errors). Results: Two studies found a significant relationship while eight did not. Conventional measurement of physician burnout seems not to be associated with adverse patient outcomes, but it is associated with clinician dissatisfaction and intention to leave the practice. Conclusions: This review illustrates the need for a validation of the measures of burnout and patient outcomes, and more studies are required to investigate the relationship between physician burnout and adverse patients outcomes using objective measures