Efficacy of Individual-Level Interventions to Mitigate the Risk for Burnout Among Health Care Professionals : A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

BACKGROUND

There is limited evidence of the strategies to mitigate burnout among all health care professionals (HCPs).

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of all interventions to mitigate burnout among HCPs.

DATA SOURCES: PubMed and Scopus (up to 14 May 2025).

STUDY SELECTION: Independent study selection (2 people) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cluster RCTs of interventions to mitigate burnout (vs. no active intervention) among HCPs.

DATA EXTRACTION: Independent extraction with validation by second reviewer. Continuous data for burnout outcomes extracted for emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization, personal accomplishment (PA), and single-concept burnout measurement. Separate random-effects models were stratified by role.

DATA SYNTHESIS: 93 RCTs and 6 cluster RCTs evaluating individual-level interventions were included (9330 participants). Among physicians, professional coaching was probably effective in reducing some aspects of burnout (EE standardized mean difference [SMD], -0.37 [95% CI, -0.62 to -0.13], low certainty; and depersonalization SMD, -0.30 [CI, -0.42 to -0.19], moderate certainty), but mindfulness-based interventions may not be effective (EE SMD, -0.46 [CI, -1.28 to 0.35], very low certainty; depersonalization SMD, -0.09 [CI, -0.30 to 0.12], moderate certainty). However, mindfulness-based interventions may reduce burnout among nurses and midwives (EE SMD, -0.90 [CI,-1.46 to -0.34], low certainty) and among a mixture of HCP roles (EE SMD, -0.40 [-0.65 to -0.16], low certainty; depersonalization SMD, -0.36 [CI, -0.58 to -0.14], low certainty; and PA SMD, 0.48 [CI, 0.29 to 0.67], moderate certainty). Mindfulness-based and professional coaching interventions were generally more than 4 weeks in duration.

LIMITATIONS: Most trials were unblinded with subjective outcomes. There was substantial heterogeneity among interventions and populations despite stratifying by role.

CONCLUSION

Although mindfulness-based interventions may reduce burnout in nurses and midwives and among a mixture of HCPs, professional coaching probably reduces burnout among physicians, particularly when sustained for more than 4 weeks.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: Barts Charity. (PROSPERO: CRD42024552385).