Abstract 12067: Association Between Practice Type and Psychological Well-Being of Interventional Cardiologists: An International, Anonymized Survey
Bahadir Simsek, Athanasios Rempakos, Michaella Alexandrou, Spyridon Kostantinis, Judit Karacsonyi, Bavana V Rangan, Deniz Mutlu, Olga C Mastrodemos, Ajay J Kirtane, Anna E Bortnick, Hani Jneid, Lorenzo Azzalini, Milkas Anastasios, Khaldoon Alaswad, Mark Linzer, Mohaned Egred, Salman S Allana, Sunil V Rao, Yader Sandoval, Emmanouil S Brilakis- Physiology (medical)
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Introduction: The association between practice type (academic vs non-academic) and the psychological well-being of interventional cardiologists (ICs) has received limited study.
Methods: We examined the association between practice type and the well-being of ICs using an online, anonymous, and international psychological well-being survey.
Results: Out of the 1,093 participating attending ICs, 33% worked in academic positions. Most IC attendings were from the United States (53%) and men (91%). Academic ICs had similar hours worked per week (60 [52-70] vs 61 [53-70], p=0.34) and vacation >3 weeks/year (73% vs 69%, p=0.238) with non-academic ICs. However, academic ICs were less often on call ≥3 times/week (21% vs 30%, p=0.001), reported lower emotional exhaustion (6.0 [2.8-7.2] vs 6.5 [3.9-7.7], p=0.002), numerically higher life satisfaction (7.4 [5.6-8.5] vs 7.0 [4.9-8.2], p= 0.064), less frustration with their work (5.3 [2.5-7.4] vs 6.4 [3.0-8.0], p=0.005), and less stress (6.8 [5.0-7.9] vs 7.0 [5.1-8.0], p=0.027) (Figure). Burnout contributors were similar between the groups, except for stress related to COVID-19 (2.2 [1.0-5.2] vs 3.0 [1.0-6.6], p=0.003) and excessive regulations (4.8 [1.8-7.0] vs 5.3 [2.2-7.5], p=0.003), which were rated lower by academic ICs. Academic ICs were less likely to request better hospital infrastructure (7.1 [4.9-8.7] vs 7.8 [5.9-9.5], p=0.001), but more likely to request higher compensation (7.6 [6.1-9.2] vs 7.3 [5.2-8.8], p=0.05) to improve their well-being.
Conclusions: Our survey demonstrates that an academic setting is associated with better psychological well-being. Elucidating the underlying reasons for this finding may help to improve well-being for ICs working in non-academic centers.