When work interferes with life

This issue of the Journal contains an article by Gynning et al (1) on the impact of work-life interference on burnout and job discontent in a sample of 1575 physicians in Sweden. The authors measured work-life interference and burnout at baseline in 2021, followed participants for one year, and then measured burnout again. Higher levels of work-life interference in 2021 were associated with an increased risk of high burnout in 2022, after adjustment for sex, occupational rank, family situation, work hours, overtime work, work with COVID-19 patients, and high burnout in 2021. The estimates for the association were substantial, with odds ratios of 3.67 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.78-4.83] and 1.53 (95% CI 1.05-2.25) in the crude and the adjusted analysis, respectively. Work-life interference in 2021 was also associated with risk of job dissatisfaction and turnover intention in 2022.

Whereas the design of the study was simple and straightforward, the researched phenomena, both the exposure − work-life interference − and the outcome − burnout − are anything but simple and straightforward.