EDUCATION RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
THURSDAY, 5:45-6:30 PM
Baime MJ, Galantino ML, Maguire M, Szapary P and Farrar
JT.
Effect of mindfulness meditation on health care provider
burnout, mood, and patient satisfaction.
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
baime@mail.med.upenn.edu
PURPOSE: This study was designed to test the
hypothesis that an eight-week mindfulness-based program would reduce
work-related psychological distress and enhance patient care.
METHOD: The intervention was offered to all
full-time day shift employees of the ophthalmologic hospital of a university
medical center. The research design was a prospective cohort study.
Data was collected at entry into the study; at the end of the eight-week
training program; and one and three months following completion of the
program. At each data collection point, salivary cortisol measures were
obtained, and subjects were administered the Profile of Mood States
(POMS) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI In addition, the results
of institutionally collected patient satisfaction surveys were included
in the analysis
RESULTS: 64 eligible employees participated
in the program and competed all questionnaires. All six POMS subscales
and the Emotional Exhaustion (EE) subscale of the MBI improved significantly
at the end of the eight-week intervention (p < 0.001). Three months
after the end of the intervention, the Emotional Exhaustion subscale
of the MBI was still significantly improved from baseline (p = 0.001)
as were the fatigue, vigor, and anxiety subscales of the POMS. No correlation
was documented between survey measures and salivary cortisol. Patient
satisfaction answers for the questions "How caring was your doctor"
and "How caring was your nurse were higher in the six months following
the intervention than at any time in the year proceeding or following
the intervention. (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Mindfulness meditation decreased
burnout and psychological distress, and improved reported patient satisfaction,
for three months in a prospective cohort study. The lack of a control
comparison group limits the strength of this conclusion, but the response
of patients who were not aware of the intervention is suggestive of
a clinically significant effect.
Back