Study of Psychosocial and Contextual Determinants of General Practitioners' Management of Burnout

Overview

Burnout is a major public and occupational health issue. Despite accumulated knowledge to date on the determinants of burnout and its treatment, shortcomings when providing support against this complex phenomenon have been found. Although many professionals are involved in the management of burnout, general practitioners (GPs), as primary care providers, are on the front line, and face a range of difficulties that are reflected in the wide variability of medical support brought to the patients. As a result, the diversity of these practices can affect the recovery process of burnout sufferers and their ability to return to work. Deviations from recommended practices can lead to shortcomings in the treatment of burnout. Using an exploratory et descriptive study design, the main objective of BOPEC-MG is to describe the psychosocial mechanisms involved in the management of burnout in general practice that could explain the variation in medical practices.

The principal aim of this interdisciplinary project is to conduct an exploratory study of GPs' attitudes, beliefs and social representations with regard to burnout management, in order to better understand how their perceptions of this syndrome can influence their practices. A mixed method combining qualitative and quantitative data collection will be used with samples from the French GPs population. In phase 1 (qualitative study), semi-structured interviews will be conducted to explore: 1. The contextual aspects of professional practice (e.g. barriers to work); 2. The attitudes, beliefs and social representations about burnout; 3. Concrete practices for managing burnout (e.g. prescribing sick leave). In addition to semi-structured interviews, qualitative data collection will include the examination of fictional clinical cases to describe medical practices. The format of the four fictional will be video, with actors playing the roles of patients with severe burnout in general practice. The independent variables manipuled will be age and gender. In phase 2 (quantitative study), a questionnaire will be sent to french general practitioners. it will include scales developed using the results of phase 1 and scales validated by the scientific literature. As for quantitative data collection, in addition to scales dedicated to attitudes, beliefs and practices, a questionnaire will include a free association task to describe social representations of burnout. the questionnaire will measure: 1. attitudes 2. beliefs 3. social representations 4. screening for burnout and depression 5. contextual and environmental psychosocial determinants 6. care practices 7. socio-demographic variables A randomized controlled trial aimed at harmonizing practices in general practice could be carried out on the basis of the results. Furthermore, the applications of the present study will be twofold: designing training courses in burnout management for the medical population, and contributing to communication campaigns to encourage GPs to follow the recommendations.