Work Environment Evaluation Instrument (WEEI): development, validation, and association with burnout

Introduction Physician burnout is considered an epidemic. In 2019, 44% of U.S. physicians reported feeling burned out. The work environment is a central risk factor for this. The aim of this study is to develop and test an instrument to evaluate work environment factors in medical training courses....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in psychiatry and psychotherapy 2020-06, Vol.42 (2), p.185-189
Main Authors: Carneiro Monteiro, Gabriela Massaro, Baeza, Fernanda Lucia Capitanio, Hauck, Simone
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Brazil
Burnout
Burnout, Professional - psychology
Employment - psychology
environment
Female
Humans
Internship and Residency
Interprofessional Relations
Male
medical education
Organizational Culture
Physicians - psychology
Pilot Projects
Principal components analysis
PSYCHIATRY
Psychiatry - education
Psychometrics - instrumentation
Psychometrics - methods
Psychometrics - standards
Reproducibility of Results
Risk factors
stress disorders
validation studies
Work environment
Young Adult
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Summary:Introduction Physician burnout is considered an epidemic. In 2019, 44% of U.S. physicians reported feeling burned out. The work environment is a central risk factor for this. The aim of this study is to develop and test an instrument to evaluate work environment factors in medical training courses. Method After focus groups, an initial pool of 14 items was generated and tested in a pilot study (n = 66). Face validity was verified, and small adjustments were made. The resulting version was administered to a sample of 115 psychiatry residents. Eleven items were selected based on the correlations between them, principal component analysis, and theoretical reasons, and then tested for internal and construct validity. Results The final version had high reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.898) and comprised three dimensions: relations with the institution; with colleagues; and with preceptors. Both total scores and dimensions correlated significantly with burnout scores (p < 0.01). Cutoffs defining the environment as healthy (>32 points); risky (23-31 points); or toxic (
ISSN:2237-6089
2238-0019
2238-0019
DOI:10.1590/2237-6089-2019-0048