TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of the well-being of significant others of cardiothoracic surgeons
AU - Ungerleider, Jamie D.
AU - Ungerleider, Ross M.
AU - James, Les
AU - Wolf, Andrea
AU - Kovacs, Melissa
AU - Cerfolio, Robert
AU - Litle, Virginia
AU - Cooke, David T.
AU - Jones-Ungerleider, K. Candis
AU - Maddaus, Michael
AU - Luc, Jessica G.Y.
AU - DeAnda, Abe
AU - Erkmen, Cherie P.
AU - Bremner, Kathy
AU - Bremner, Ross M.
N1 - Copyright © 2023 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2024/1
Y1 - 2024/1
N2 - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate how the current working climate of cardiothoracic surgery and burnout experienced by cardiothoracic surgeons influences their spouses and significant others (SOs).METHODS: A 33-question well-being survey was developed by the American Association for Thoracic Surgery Wellness Committee and distributed by e-mail to the SOs of cardiothoracic surgeons and to all surgeon registrants of the 2020 and 2021 American Association for Thoracic Surgery Annual Meetings with a request to share it with their SO. The 5-item Likert-scale survey questions were dichotomized, and associations were determined by χ
2 or independent samples t tests, as appropriate.
RESULTS: Responses from 238 SOs were analyzed. Sixty-six percent reported that the stress on their cardiothoracic surgeon partner had a moderate to severe influence on their family, and 63% reported that their partner's work demands didn't leave enough time for family. Fifty-one percent reported that their partner rarely had time for intimacy, 27% reported poor work-life balance, and 23% reported that interactions at home were usually or always not good-natured. SOs were most affected when their partner was <5 years out from training, worked in private vs academic practice, and worked longer hours. Having children, particularly younger than age 19 years, and a lack of workplace support resources further diminished well-being.CONCLUSIONS: The current work culture of cardiothoracic surgeons adversely affects their SOs, and the risk for families is concerning. These data present a major area for exploration as we strive to understand and mitigate the factors that lead to burnout among cardiothoracic surgeons.
AB - OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate how the current working climate of cardiothoracic surgery and burnout experienced by cardiothoracic surgeons influences their spouses and significant others (SOs).METHODS: A 33-question well-being survey was developed by the American Association for Thoracic Surgery Wellness Committee and distributed by e-mail to the SOs of cardiothoracic surgeons and to all surgeon registrants of the 2020 and 2021 American Association for Thoracic Surgery Annual Meetings with a request to share it with their SO. The 5-item Likert-scale survey questions were dichotomized, and associations were determined by χ
2 or independent samples t tests, as appropriate.
RESULTS: Responses from 238 SOs were analyzed. Sixty-six percent reported that the stress on their cardiothoracic surgeon partner had a moderate to severe influence on their family, and 63% reported that their partner's work demands didn't leave enough time for family. Fifty-one percent reported that their partner rarely had time for intimacy, 27% reported poor work-life balance, and 23% reported that interactions at home were usually or always not good-natured. SOs were most affected when their partner was <5 years out from training, worked in private vs academic practice, and worked longer hours. Having children, particularly younger than age 19 years, and a lack of workplace support resources further diminished well-being.CONCLUSIONS: The current work culture of cardiothoracic surgeons adversely affects their SOs, and the risk for families is concerning. These data present a major area for exploration as we strive to understand and mitigate the factors that lead to burnout among cardiothoracic surgeons.
KW - burnout
KW - cardiothoracic surgeon
KW - family
KW - significant other
KW - spouse
KW - well-being
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85160070019&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2023.04.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2023.04.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 37160214
AN - SCOPUS:85160070019
SN - 0022-5223
VL - 167
SP - 396-402.e3
JO - Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
JF - Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
IS - 1
ER -