Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on work-family balance, resilience, and burnout of physicians in Lebanon: a cross-sectional survey study.

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic placed significant strain on physicians. Gender inequities in medicine preceded the pandemic. This study aimed to assess the association of COVID-19 lockdown on physicians' careers, work-life balance, resilience, and burnout from a gender perspective, in Lebanon.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A web-based survey was sent to all Lebanese Syndicate of Physicians members. Data was collected between August and September 2022. The survey was designed comprising five domains to assess personal characteristics, career impact, work-family intersection, resilience, and burnout.

RESULTS

A total of 165 physicians were included in the analysis. A greater percentage of women were married with children and in a non-surgical specialty. During COVID-19 lockdown, more women occupied part-time positions compared to pre-COVID-19 (29.2%vs.18.0%, p = 0.04), whereas there was no significant difference among men. While both men and women shifted to more remote work during COVID-19, there was no statistically significant difference by gender. Moreover, more women than men reported increased time spent on household tasks (64.0%vs.36.8%, p < 0.001). While the majority of both men and women reported increased parenting activities, a higher percentage of women reported solely bearing childcare responsibilities during school disruptions. Furthermore, a higher percentage of women reported relying on their extended family during childcare disruptions (30.9%vs.9.5%, p < 0.001), compared to men who reported relying more on their spouses (52.6%vs.9.1%, p < 0.001). Multivariate regression of Work-to-Family conflict and resilience scales did not show any statistically significant difference by gender, nor was there a gendered difference in burnout scores. Being married and married with children were both associated with higher resilience in physicians.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study highlights the disproportionate association between COVID-19 lockdown and experiences of women physicians. Policies and initiatives to retain women physicians during crises are of paramount importance as are interventions targeting resilience in single physicians and overall burnout.