In a national cross-sectional survey of 5,741 physicians and 3,501 US workers, 39% of physicians reported high moral distress, which was associated with higher burnout, lower professional fulfillment, and greater intent to leave practice or reduce clinical hours, with burnout prevalence ranging from 18% at a moral distress score of 0 to 92% at a score of 10. Moral distress varied by specialty and workload and remained distinct from burnout, accounting for 30% of the variability in emotional exhaustion and 25% in depersonalization, although the cross-sectional design and self-reported measures limit causal inference.

Source: JAMA Network Open