Spousal Support and Physician Work-Life Integration and Burnout

Importance: Few studies have assessed whether factors outside the workplace, such as support from a spouse or partner, are associated with work-life integration (WLI) satisfaction and burnout among physicians. Evaluating such an association may help with developing novel strategies to address burnout and improve WLI satisfaction among this group. Objectives: To compare spousal support among female and male physicians and explore associations of spousal support with WLI satisfaction and burnout. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional, multispecialty survey study was conducted among 661 faculty physicians employed at an academic medical center from March 26 to May 22, 2024. Main Outcomes and Measures: Survey items measured spousal support (5 items), WLI satisfaction (1 item), and burnout (2 Maslach Burnout Inventory items). Associations of spousal support and gender with WLI and burnout were assessed using logistic regression analyses adjusting for age, race and ethnicity, weekly work hours, and weekly hours spent on household or childcare duties. Results: Overall, 739 of 2103 faculty physicians (response rate, 35.1%) completed the survey, of whom 661 (89.4%) were currently married or partnered (359 of 661 men 54.3%). In this subset, 322 of 351 male physicians (91.7%) and 276 of 298 of female physicians (92.6%) reported frequent career support (defined as often, most of the time, or always) over the last year from their spouse or partner. Physicians reporting high levels of career support from their spouse or partner had higher odds of WLI satisfaction (odds ratio OR, 1.50 95% CI, 1.22-1.86; P < .001) and lower odds of burnout (OR, 0.73 95% CI, 0.61-0.87; P < .001), independent of gender and adjusted for age, race and ethnicity, weekly work hours, and weekly hours spent on household or childcare duties. Male physicians had higher odds of WLI satisfaction than female physicians (OR, 1.95 95% CI, 1.32-2.90; P < .001), even after adjusting for spousal career support and other covariates listed, whereas odds of burnout did not significantly differ by gender (OR, 0.84 95% CI, 0.57-1.23; P = .37). Conclusions and Relevance: This study suggests that the level of career support from a spouse or partner is associated with WLI satisfaction and burnout among physicians, independent of gender. Future studies should explore whether interventions designed to enhance career support can improve WLI and well-being among physicians.