Surgeons: Errors In Operating Room Likely Result Of Burnout, Depression

November 24, 2009 10:07 a.m. EST

Rochester, MN (AHN) - Major medical errors self-reported by American surgeons are strongly related to both burnout and depression. In a confidential study of nearly 8,000 surgeons nearly 9 percent responded by saying they made a major error in the three months prior to being surveyed.

Over 70 percent of those surveyed attributed the error to themselves rather than a systemic or organizational cause. Findings identified the following areas of surgeon burnout as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and perception personal accomplishments. Researchers found them all correlated to errors; as was surgeons' "mental quality of life."

A worrisome trend for those in the medical field, or for those going under the knife, is the high instance of depressed surgeons. Of the 7,905 surgeons participating in the survey, 8.9 percent or 700 reported making recent medical errors that they considered major.

"These results suggest that a surgeon's personal mental health including burnout may have an effect on quality of care," says lead author Tait Shanafelt, M.D. "Our aim is to encourage more research to find ways to reduce distress among surgeons and to provide better support when errors occur."

Health experts say a lot of the burnout stressing out surgeons is a result of increased patient loads and expectations of high productivity. Researchers conclude that ultimately the medical errors surgeons commit can haunt surgeons for years and further contribute to distress.