The Effect of Community Building Through Virtual, Team-Based Exercise on Burnout

NCT05194410 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2021P000825
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 422
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

This study is a randomized controlled trial that will look at whether virtual, team-based exercise improves burnout, sense of community, and mentorship connections among medical students, residents, fellows, and physicians.

Conditions

Burnout, Professional; Burnout, Student; Community Building; Mentorship; Exercise

Keywords

Burnout, Professional; Burnout, Student; Community Building; Mentorship; Exercise

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (12)

• Change from Baseline Burnout at 3 months

  Measured via the 2-item Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) The MBI is a 22-item survey that covers 3 areas: Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and low sense of Personal Accomplishment (PA). Each subscale includes multiple questions with frequency rating choices of Never, A few times a year or less, Once a month or less, A few times a month, Once a week, A few times a week, or Every day. The use of 2 single items from the MBI may also be used. Item 8 ("I feel burned out from my work",) and item 10 ("I have become more callous toward people since I took this job") correlate strongly with the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization subscale scores and concurrent validity has been demonstrated (J Gen Intern Med 2012;27:1445-52. J Gen Inter Med 2009;24:1318-21.) Individuals meet burnout criteria if they have high scores on either the EE (total score of 27 or higher) or DP (total score of 10 or higher) subscales.

  0 and 3 months

• Change from Baseline Burnout at 6 months

  Measured via the 2-item Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) The MBI is a 22-item survey that covers 3 areas: Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and low sense of Personal Accomplishment (PA). Each subscale includes multiple questions with frequency rating choices of Never, A few times a year or less, Once a month or less, A few times a month, Once a week, A few times a week, or Every day. The use of 2 single items from the MBI may also be used. Item 8 ("I feel burned out from my work",) and item 10 ("I have become more callous toward people since I took this job") correlate strongly with the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization subscale scores and concurrent validity has been demonstrated (J Gen Intern Med 2012;27:1445-52. J Gen Inter Med 2009;24:1318-21.) Individuals meet burnout criteria if they have high scores on either the EE (total score of 27 or higher) or DP (total score of 10 or higher) subscales.

  0 and 6 months

• Change in Burnout from 3 to 6 months

  Measured via the 2-item Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) The MBI is a 22-item survey that covers 3 areas: Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and low sense of Personal Accomplishment (PA). Each subscale includes multiple questions with frequency rating choices of Never, A few times a year or less, Once a month or less, A few times a month, Once a week, A few times a week, or Every day. The use of 2 single items from the MBI may also be used. Item 8 ("I feel burned out from my work",) and item 10 ("I have become more callous toward people since I took this job") correlate strongly with the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization subscale scores and concurrent validity has been demonstrated (J Gen Intern Med 2012;27:1445-52. J Gen Inter Med 2009;24:1318-21.) Individuals meet burnout criteria if they have high scores on either the EE (total score of 27 or higher) or DP (total score of 10 or higher) subscales.

  3 and 6 months

• Change from Baseline Sense of Community at 3 months

  Measured via the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index The Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI) is a 16-item survey that covers burnout (work exhaustion and interpersonal disengagement) and professional fulfillment. Response options are on a five-point Likert scale ("not at all true" to "completely true" for professional fulfillment items and "not at all" to "extremely" for work exhaustion and interpersonal disengagement items.) Items are scored 0 to 4. Each dimension is treated as a continuous variable. Scale scores are calculated by averaging the item scores of all the items within the corresponding scale. Scale scores can then be multiplied by 25 to create a scale range from 0 to 100. Higher score on the professional fulfillment scale is more favorable while higher scores on the work exhaustion or interpersonal disengagement scales are less favorable.

  0 and 3 months

• Change from Baseline Sense of Community at 6 months

  Measured via the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index The Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI) is a 16-item survey that covers burnout (work exhaustion and interpersonal disengagement) and professional fulfillment. Response options are on a five-point Likert scale ("not at all true" to "completely true" for professional fulfillment items and "not at all" to "extremely" for work exhaustion and interpersonal disengagement items.) Items are scored 0 to 4. Each dimension is treated as a continuous variable. Scale scores are calculated by averaging the item scores of all the items within the corresponding scale. Scale scores can then be multiplied by 25 to create a scale range from 0 to 100. Higher score on the professional fulfillment scale is more favorable while higher scores on the work exhaustion or interpersonal disengagement scales are less favorable.

  0 and 6 months

• Change in Sense of Community from 3 to 6 months

  Measured via the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index The Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI) is a 16-item survey that covers burnout (work exhaustion and interpersonal disengagement) and professional fulfillment. Response options are on a five-point Likert scale ("not at all true" to "completely true" for professional fulfillment items and "not at all" to "extremely" for work exhaustion and interpersonal disengagement items.) Items are scored 0 to 4. Each dimension is treated as a continuous variable. Scale scores are calculated by averaging the item scores of all the items within the corresponding scale. Scale scores can then be multiplied by 25 to create a scale range from 0 to 100. Higher score on the professional fulfillment scale is more favorable while higher scores on the work exhaustion or interpersonal disengagement scales are less favorable.

  3 and 6 months

• Change from Baseline Mentorship Connections at 3 months

  Measured via unvalidated survey "How many meaningful relationships would you say you have with \[medical students, residents/fellows, attendings\]? A meaningful relationship could include any of the following: a) someone you'd get coffee/meal with, b) someone you'd be comfortable talking about career/life advice, c) someone you would be comfortable catching up with, etc."

  0 and 3 months

• Change from Baseline Mentorship Connections at 6 months

  Measured via unvalidated survey "How many meaningful relationships would you say you have with \[medical students, residents/fellows, attendings\]? A meaningful relationship could include any of the following: a) someone you'd get coffee/meal with, b) someone you'd be comfortable talking about career/life advice, c) someone you would be comfortable catching up with, etc."

  0 and 6 months

• Change in Mentorship Connections from 3 to 6 months

  Measured via unvalidated survey "How many meaningful relationships would you say you have with \[medical students, residents/fellows, attendings\]? A meaningful relationship could include any of the following: a) someone you'd get coffee/meal with, b) someone you'd be comfortable talking about career/life advice, c) someone you would be comfortable catching up with, etc."

  3 and 6 months

• Change from Baseline Burnout (Mayo) at 3 months

  Measured via the Mayo Wellbeing Index The Mayo Wellbeing Index aims to identify distress in a variety of dimensions (burnout, fatigue, low mental/physical quality of life, depression, anxiety/stress). It has separate medical student, resident/fellow, and physicians versions and is a 7-item instrument with yes/no response categories. A total score is calculated by adding the number of 'yes' responses. In a sample of physicians, medical students, and US workers, every one point increase in score resulted in a step-wise increased probability of distress and risk for adverse personal and professional consequence. Score range is 0 to 7, and threshold score to identify individuals in distress is 4 or higher for medical students, 5 or higher for residents, 4 or higher for practicing physicians, and 2 or higher for other US workers.

  0 and 3 months

• Change from Baseline Burnout (Mayo) at 6 months

  Measured via the Mayo Wellbeing Index The Mayo Wellbeing Index aims to identify distress in a variety of dimensions (burnout, fatigue, low mental/physical quality of life, depression, anxiety/stress). It has separate medical student, resident/fellow, and physicians versions and is a 7-item instrument with yes/no response categories. A total score is calculated by adding the number of 'yes' responses. In a sample of physicians, medical students, and US workers, every one point increase in score resulted in a step-wise increased probability of distress and risk for adverse personal and professional consequence. Score range is 0 to 7, and threshold score to identify individuals in distress is 4 or higher for medical students, 5 or higher for residents, 4 or higher for practicing physicians, and 2 or higher for other US workers.

  0 and 6 months

• Change in Burnout (Mayo) from 3 to 6 months

  Measured via the Mayo Wellbeing Index The Mayo Wellbeing Index aims to identify distress in a variety of dimensions (burnout, fatigue, low mental/physical quality of life, depression, anxiety/stress). It has separate medical student, resident/fellow, and physicians versions and is a 7-item instrument with yes/no response categories. A total score is calculated by adding the number of 'yes' responses. In a sample of physicians, medical students, and US workers, every one point increase in score resulted in a step-wise increased probability of distress and risk for adverse personal and professional consequence. Score range is 0 to 7, and threshold score to identify individuals in distress is 4 or higher for medical students, 5 or higher for residents, 4 or higher for practicing physicians, and 2 or higher for other US workers.

  3 and 6 months

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Engagement in First Half of Study

  3 months

• Engagement in Second Half of Study

  6 months

• Change in Baseline Exercise at 3 months

  0 and 3 months

• Change in Baseline Exercise at 6 months

  0 and 6 months

• Change in Exercise from 3 to 6 months

  3 and 6 months

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

6 months of virtual, team-based exercise

Behavioral: First 3 months of virtual, team-based exercise; Behavioral: Second 3 months of virtual, team-based exercise

Control

OTHER

3 months of usual exercise and then 3 months of virtual, team-based exercise

Behavioral: Second 3 months of virtual, team-based exercise

Interventions

First 3 months of virtual, team-based exercise BEHAVIORAL

Participants will be randomized onto mixed teams of medical students, residents, fellows, and attendings and registered for the virtual, team-based exercise intervention on FitRankings.com. All exercise (including walking, biking, lifting, yoga, and 40+ exercises) will be tracked via user's smartwatches (ie Apple, Garmin), smartphone fitness apps (ie MapMyRun), or manual upload, converted into Metabolic Equivalent of a Task (MET) minutes, and displayed on online leaderboards. Group activities will be encouraged by awarding raffle tickets for prizes to those who submit pictures with their teammates.

Intervention

Second 3 months of virtual, team-based exercise BEHAVIORAL

Same as above

Control; Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Harvard Medical Students (HMS)
• Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Residents, Fellows, or Attendings

You may not qualify if:

• Non HMS Students or MGH Residents, Fellows, or Attendings

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM): lead
• Massachusetts General Hospital: collaborator

Study Sites (2)

Harvard Medical School

Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, United States

Location

Massachusetts General Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, United States

Location

Related Links

• Medicine in Motion Trial Website

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Burnout, Professional; Burnout, Psychological; Motor Activity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Occupational Stress; Occupational Diseases; Stress, Psychological; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Logan Briggs, BA

  Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM)

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 30, 2021
• First Posted: January 18, 2022
• Study Start: July 18, 2021
• Primary Completion: May 31, 2024
• Study Completion: July 31, 2024
• Last Updated: August 27, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (2)