Experiences of Negotiations for Improving Research Environment and Burnout among Young Physician Researchers in Japan

Physician scientists in Japan are often too busy to be sufficiently involved in research work. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate their experiences negotiating with their superiors to improve their research environment and determine its relationship with psychological burnout. Among 1790 physician awardees of Grants-in-Aid for Young Scientists in 2014–2015, 490 responded (response rate 27.4%) and 408 were eligible for analysis. Outcome measures included two negotiation experiences: for reduction of clinical duty hours/promotion opportunities and for increased space or equipment/increased research budget. The main explanatory variables were personal, patient-related, and work-related burnout measured by the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. The percentages of the above-mentioned two types of negotiations were 20–24% in women and 17–20% in men. Multivariable stepwise logistic regression analyses demonstrated that (1) the negotiation for reduction of clinical duty hours/promotion opportunities was significantly associated with physician scientists who had a short amount of weekly research time and high patient-related burnout score, and (2) the negotiation for increased space or equipment/increased research budget was significantly associated with older age, single status, and high personal and patient-related burnout scores. High burnout is related to negotiation experiences among physician researchers in Japan.