Mental health, job satisfaction, and intention to relocate - Opinions of physicians in rural British Columbia

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of depression and burnout among famil y physicians working in British Columbia's Northern and Isolation Allowance communities. Current level of satisfaction with work and intention to move were also investigated. DESIGN Cross-sectional, mailed survey. SETTING Family practices in rural communities eligible for British Columbia 's Northern and Isolation Allowance. PARTICIPANTS. A random sample of family physicians practising in rural BC c ommunities. Initial response rate was 66% (131/198 surveys returned). exclu ding physicians on leave and in temporary situations and those who received duplicate mailings gave a corrected response rate of 92%; (133/142 surveys returned). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Demographics;; self-reported depression and burnout; Beck Depression Inventory and Maslach Burnout Inventory scores; job satisfa ction; and intention to leave. RESULTS Self-reported depression rate was 29%; the Beck Depression Inventor y indicated 31% of physicians suffered from mild to severe depression. Abou t 13% oi physicians reported taking antidepressants in the past 5 years. Se lf-reported burnout rate was 55%; the Maslach Burnout Inventory showed that 80%; of physicians suffered from moderate-to-severe emotional exhaustion, 61% suffered from moderate-to-severe depersonalization, and 44% had moderat e-to-low feelings of personal accomplishment. Depression scores correlated with emotional exhaustion scores. More than half the respondents were consi dering relocation. CONCLUSIONS Physicians working in these communities suffer from high levels of depression and very high levels of burnout and are dissatisfied with th eir current jobs. More than half are considering relocating. Intention to m ove is strongly associated with poor mental health.