Evaluating an Intervention for Physician Burnout

NCT06969950 | Recruiting Phase 2

• 1 other identifier: STUDY00000677
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goals of this randomized controlled trial are 1) to test the efficacy of an app-based program in reducing physician burnout vs. no app (control) in 100 physicians; 2) to explore the role of an online live training to augment outcomes and develop an ongoing and sustainable support community with a subsample of physicians.

Conditions

Physician Burnout

Keywords

burnout; physicians; app-based; smarthphone; mindfulness

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Level of cynicism

  Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) cynicism. The MBI is a validated 22-item self-report measure of risk of burnout. Items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (never) to 6 (every day). The investigators will use only one single-item measure of cynicism that was included from the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)-based on the research of West et al., 2009.

  It will be collected 3 times, at baseline, 2 weeks after (post-app), three months later (follow-up). For the sub-group that will attend the online virtual training intervention, it will be collected after 4 months (post online training intervention).

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Level of emotional exhaustion

  It will be collected 3 times, at baseline, 2 weeks after (post-app), three months later (follow-up). For the sub-group that will attend the online virtual training intervention, it will be collected after 4 months (post online training intervention).

• Level of anxiety

  It will be collected 3 times, at baseline, 2 weeks after (post-app), three months later (follow-up). For the sub-group that will attend the online virtual training intervention, it will be collected after 4 months (post online training intervention).

• Level of depression

  It will be collected 3 times, at baseline, 2 weeks after (post-app), three months later (follow-up). For the sub-group that will attend the online virtual training intervention, it will be collected after 4 months (post online training intervention).

• Level of intolerance of uncertainty

  It will be collected 3 times, at baseline, 2 weeks after (post-app), three months later (follow-up). For the sub-group that will attend the online virtual training intervention, it will be collected after 4 months (post online training intervention).

• Level of self-compassion

  It will be collected 3 times, at baseline, 2 weeks after (post-app), three months later (follow-up). For the sub-group that will attend the online virtual training intervention, it will be collected after 4 months (post online training intervention).

Other Outcomes (9)

• Level of Work Engagement

  It will be collected 3 times, at baseline, 2 weeks after (post-app), three months later (follow-up). For the sub-group that will attend the online virtual training intervention, it will be collected after 4 months (post online training intervention).

• Level of patient-centered care

  It will be collected 3 times, at baseline, 2 weeks after (post-app), three months later (follow-up). For the sub-group that will attend the online virtual training intervention, it will be collected after 4 months (post online training intervention).

• Level of organization civic behavior

  It will be collected 3 times, at baseline, 2 weeks after (post-app), three months later (follow-up). For the sub-group that will attend the online virtual training intervention, it will be collected after 4 months (post online training intervention).

Study Arms (3)

Experimental: Early App-Delivered Mindfulness Training (MT).

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will be asked to utilize the app designed to reduce burnout for 2 weeks

Other: App-Delivered Mindfulness Training (MT).

Later App-Delivered Mindfulness Training (MT).

OTHER

Participants will receive the intervention after the three-month follow-up, not before.

Other: App-Delivered Mindfulness Training (MT).

Experimental: Online Virtual Training

EXPERIMENTAL

A sub-group of participants will receive the virtual online training after three-month follow-up or directly after the app-based intervention.

Other: App-Delivered Mindfulness Training (MT).; Other: Online Virtual Training

Interventions

App-Delivered Mindfulness Training (MT). OTHER

The program is delivered via a smartphone-based platform, which includes 7 mindfulness-based modules of about 15 minutes of brief didactic and experience-based for two weeks

Experimental: Early App-Delivered Mindfulness Training (MT).; Experimental: Online Virtual Training; Later App-Delivered Mindfulness Training (MT).

Online Virtual Training OTHER

A sub-group of 25 participants, either from the both intervention or control group, the will receive a virtual online training delivered via zoom calls. It is a group session program which includes 4 mindfulness-based sessions of about 60 minutes of brief didactic and experience-based for four weeks.

Experimental: Online Virtual Training

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Being a physician
• Able to speak English because all study activities will be conducted in English.
• + years
• Direct patient care

You may not qualify if:

• \. If using psychotropic medication - not on a stable dosage at least 6 weeks

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Brown University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Brown University

Providence, Rhode Island, 02903, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Burnout, Psychological

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Stress, Psychological; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Lia Antico, PhD

  Brown University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Joseph Casamassima, MSc

  Brown University

  STUDY CHAIR

Central Study Contacts

Lia Antico, PhD In Neuroscience

CONTACT

+1-401-328-0763; lia_antico@brown.edu

Judson Brewer, PhD, MD

CONTACT

judson_brewer@brown.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: phase 2
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: One group will receive the intervention (audio-course) to listen during the study and the other group will have access to the audio-course at the end of the study

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 28, 2025
• First Posted: May 14, 2025
• Study Start: February 12, 2025
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2025
• Study Completion: February 27, 2026
• Last Updated: May 14, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)