Exercise, Stress, Sleep, Job Satisfaction, and Burnout Among Indian Doctors: A Nationwide Occupational Health Study of 4,400 Physicians.

CONTEXT: Physician burnout is an occupational hazard driven by workload, fatigue, and poor recovery. Exercise and sleep enhance resilience, yet Indian data integrating behavioral and workplace factors are scarce.

AIMS: To examine how exercise, workload, stress, sleep quality, and job satisfaction interact to predict burnout among Indian doctors.

SETTINGS AND

DESIGN

Nationwide cross-sectional, web-based survey conducted from January to June 2025.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Four thousand and four hundred doctors (880 each from orthopedics, general surgery, anesthesiology, psychiatry, and internal medicine) were surveyed with equal gender and public-private distribution. A validated 24-item questionnaire (Cronbach's α = 0.86) assessed exercise, stress, sleep quality, job satisfaction, and burnout.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: SPSS 27.0; Chi-square, ANOVA, Pearson r, and multivariate regression (VIF <2).

RESULTS

Regular exercise was reported by 78.2%. Orthopedic surgeons were most active (90%), psychiatrists least (68%). Burnout correlated positively with stress (r = 0.61) and workload (r = 0.29), and negatively with exercise (r = -0.36), sleep (r = -0.43), and satisfaction (r = -0.48). Moderate exercise (30-60 min/day) provided optimal sleep improvement and burnout reduction, with diminishing gains beyond 60 min. Job satisfaction buffered 38% of the exercise's effect on burnout.

CONCLUSIONS

Exercise, sleep, and satisfaction independently protect against burnout, while excessive work and stress increase vulnerability. Balanced lifestyle and institutional wellness policies may improve occupational health and sustainability.