Burnout and endoscopy-specific workload among gastroenterologists and gastroenterology fellows in Türkiye: A national cross-sectional survey

doi:10.3748/wjg.124864

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World Journal of Gastroenterology

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1007-9327

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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

Observational Study

Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.

World J Gastroenterol. Oct 28, 2026; 32(40): 124864
Published online Oct 28, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.124864

Burnout and endoscopy-specific workload among gastroenterologists and gastroenterology fellows in Türkiye: A national cross-sectional survey

Yavuz Özden, Rasim Eren Cankurtaran, Çağlayan Keklikkıran, Çağdaş Erdoğan

Yavuz Özden, Department of Gastroenterology, Kayseri City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Kayseri 38080, Türkiye

Rasim Eren Cankurtaran, Department of Gastroenterology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye

Çağlayan Keklikkıran, Department of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize 53100, Türkiye

Çağdaş Erdoğan, Department of Gastroenterology, University of İstinye, İstanbul 34010, Türkiye

Author contributions: Özden Y contributed to conceptualization, study design, data curation, formal analysis, manuscript drafting, and project administration; Özden Y, Cankurtaran RE, and Erdoğan Ç contributed to methodology; Özden Y and Cankurtaran RE contributed to survey development; Özden Y and Erdoğan Ç contributed to interpretation of data; Cankurtaran RE and Keklikkıran Ç contributed to data collection, data interpretation, and critical revision of the manuscript; Keklikkıran Ç contributed to literature review; Erdoğan Ç contributed to supervision and critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

AI contribution statement: During manuscript preparation, ChatGPT (OpenAI) was used only for English language editing and wording refinement. The tool was not used for data analysis, statistical interpretation, figure preparation, or generation of scientific conclusions. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript and take full responsibility for its content.

Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was approved by the Kayseri City Hospital Non-Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee (approval No. 2026/900; approval date: April 28 2026). The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Informed consent statement: All participants provided electronic informed consent before accessing the online questionnaire. Participation was voluntary and anonymous, and no personal identifiers were collected.

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.

Data sharing statement: The anonymised dataset supporting the findings of this study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request and subject to institutional ethics committee approval. The dataset is not publicly available because the survey responses contain professional and organisational information that could potentially compromise participant anonymity.

Corresponding author: Yavuz Özden, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Kayseri City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Şeker District, Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu Boulevard No. 77 Kocasinan, Kayseri 38080, Türkiye. yavuzozden@gmail.com

Received: June 26, 2026
Revised: July 9, 2026
Accepted: August 26, 2026
Published online: October 28, 2026
Processing time: 81 Days and 7 Hours

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Gastroenterologists in high-volume, public-sector-dominant healthcare systems face occupational strain from endoscopic workload, out-of-hours duties, and administrative demands. Evidence linking validated burnout measures to endoscopy-specific workload indicators remains limited.

AIM

To determine burnout levels and workload-related and organisational correlates of high personal burnout among responding gastroenterologists and fellows in Türkiye.

METHODS

A national cross-sectional anonymous online survey was conducted in May 2026 using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and a purpose-designed endoscopy workload module. Recruitment via professional networks and snowball sampling precluded calculation of a formal response rate. Of 352 submitted records, 278 eligible physicians were included. CBI scores were transformed to a 0-100 scale; a score of 50 or higher indicated high burnout. Multivariable logistic regression, Spearman correlations, and sensitivity analyses using continuous personal burnout scores were performed.

RESULTS

CBI scores of 50 or higher were observed in 79.5%, 78.1%, and 69.8% of respondents for personal, work-related, and patient-related burnout, respectively; median scores were 71, 70, and 64. These values describe a self-selected respondent sample, not national prevalence. Monthly on-call frequency showed a graded association with personal burnout (P for trend < 0.001). High personal burnout was independently associated with six or more monthly on-call shifts [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 4.82], out-of-hours endoscopy duty (adjusted OR = 3.45), more than 60 procedures/week (adjusted OR = 2.91), inadequate staff support (adjusted OR = 2.68), and six or more outpatient sessions/week (adjusted OR = 2.40). Only 6/278 respondents (2.2%) reported institutional psychological support.

CONCLUSION

Responding gastroenterologists and fellows reported high burnout scores associated with modifiable workload and organisational factors, supporting system-level interventions; findings should not be interpreted as causal effects or national prevalence estimates.

Keywords: Burnout; Copenhagen Burnout Inventory; Endoscopy workload; Gastroenterology; Occupational stress; Türkiye

Core Tip: This national cross-sectional survey of 278 gastroenterologists and gastroenterology fellows in Türkiye found that responding physicians reported high burnout scores across all Copenhagen Burnout Inventory domains. A personal burnout score of 50 or higher was independently associated with six or more monthly on-call shifts [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 4.82], out-of-hours endoscopy duty (adjusted OR = 3.45), more than 60 endoscopic procedures per week (adjusted OR = 2.91), inadequate endoscopy unit staff support (adjusted OR = 2.68), and six or more outpatient sessions per week (adjusted OR = 2.40). Only 6/278 respondents (2.2%) reported access to institutional psychological support. Because the sample was self-selected, these findings should be interpreted as respondent-level associations rather than national prevalence estimates. The results highlight modifiable workload and organisational correlates of burnout and support system-level interventions.