TABLE 2.
Average Fatigue, Sleepiness, and Distress of Participants During the Study Period, 2007-2011a
| Metric (scale) | No. of participants | Mean (SD) score |
|---|---|---|
| Overall QOL | ||
| LASA overall QOL (score, 0-10) | 301 | 6.47 (1.51) |
| Mental well-being | ||
| SF-8 mental (score, 0-100) | 273 | 46.14 (8.03) |
| LASA mental QOL (score, 0-10) | 301 | 6.54 (1.49) |
| Physical well-being | ||
| SF-8 physical (score, 0-100) | 273 | 53.17 (4.73) |
| LASA physical QOL (score, 0-10) | 301 | 6.05 (1.58) |
| Emotional well-being | ||
| LASA emotional QOL (score, 0-10) | 301 | 6.20 (1.71) |
| Depression | ||
| Positive 2-item screen result | 278 | 43.88% (49.71%) |
| Burnoutb | ||
| MBI-EE (score, 0-54) | 277 | 23.34 (10.65) |
| MBI-DP (score, 0-30) | 277 | 8.88 (5.64) |
| MBI-PA (score, 0-48) | 276 | 37.65 (6.08) |
| Fatigue and sleepinessc | ||
| LASA fatigue (score, 0-10) | 301 | 5.26 (1.62) |
| ESS (score, 0-24) | 299 | 8.79 (4.05) |
ESS = Epworth Sleepiness Scale; LASA = linear analog self-assessment; MBI-DP = Maslach Burnout Inventory–depersonalization; MBI-EE = Maslach Burnout Inventory–emotional exhaustion; MBI-PA = Maslach Burnout Inventory–personal accomplishment; QOL = quality of life; SF-8 = Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form Health Survey.
Higher depersonalization or emotional exhaustion scores and lower personal accomplishment scores are indicative of greater burnout. Thresholds to categorize physicians as having low, average, or high burnout are determined on the basis of normative scale scores29: emotional exhaustion: low burnout, 0 through 18; average burnout, 19 through 26; and high burnout 27 or higher; depersonalization: low burnout, 0 through 5; average burnout, 6 through 9; high burnout, 10 or higher; and personal accomplishment: low burnout, 40 or higher; average burnout, 34 through 39; and high burnout, 0 through 33.
Lower LASA fatigue score means greater fatigue, with 0 indicating “as bad as it can be” and 10 indicating “as good as it can be”.