Burnout in Japanese Internists and Primary Care Physicians in 2024: The Prevalence and Risk Factors Using Structural Equation Modeling

Objective To investigate the prevalence of burnout and identify its associated risk factors using structural equation modeling (SEM). Patients A cross-sectional web-based survey targeting members of the American College of Physicians Japan Chapter (ACP-JC) was conducted in March 2024. The survey included the Mini Z 2.0 for burnout assessment, Emotional Vulnerability Scale, and Japanese version of the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS-J). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the demographic and workplace characteristics, and SEM with maximum likelihood estimation was employed to explore the relationships between resilience, emotional vulnerability, teamwork, and burnout. Results Of the 1,066 invited physicians, 103 (9.7%) responded to the survey. Burnout symptoms were reported by 26.2% of the participants. An SEM analysis indicated significant negative associations between resilience (standardized coefficient: -0.29, p=0.007), teamwork (standardized coefficient: -0.32, p<0.001), and burnout, whereas emotional vulnerability showed no significant associations (standardized coefficient: 0.05, p=0.630). Conclusion Approximately one in four Japanese internists and primary care physicians reported burnout symptoms. Resilience and teamwork have emerged as key protective factors, thus underscoring the importance of fostering supportive workplace environments. Therefore, interventions to enhance resilience and strengthen workplace support systems are recommended to mitigate burnout.