Oncology Residency–a Burning Issue, Results of a Questionnaire-Based Survey on Psychological Well-being of Oncology Residents

Residency, in particular oncology residency, is a challenging time with extensive academic demands, long working hours, and uncertainty about the future. Our study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with burnout, anxiety and depression among oncology residents at a tertiary cancer centre. An anonymised questionnaire-based study was conducted among medical, surgical, paediatric and radiation oncology resident doctors at a tertiary cancer centre in April 2019. We used Copenhagen Burnout Index (CBI) to assess burnout (which includes personal, work-related and patient-related burnout), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) for depression and Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD7) for anxiety. The questionnaire was served to 201 residents. The overall response rate was 70.6%. High personal, work-related and patient-related burnout was identified in 71.1%, 67.6% and 23.2% of the respondents respectively. Medical oncology residents had the highest rate of personal and work-related burnout (95% and 85%) while head and neck oncology residents had the highest rate of patient-related burnout (33.3%). 27.5% of participants were found to have high levels of anxiety on the GAD7 while 14.8% of participants were detected to have a high score on the PHQ9 for depression. High personal burnout and work-related burnout were associated with both high anxiety and depression scores (p < 0.05). There is a high prevalence of burnout, depression and anxiety among oncology residents. With an expected rise in cancer burden in the next decade, psychological issues in caregivers can be expected to increase. Further studies will be needed to determine interventions to reduce psychological distress.