Burnout and life satisfaction among physicians working in intensive care units in Brazil: a nationwide workforce survey.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of burnout and low life satisfaction and identify associated factors among physicians working in intensive care units in Brazil. METHODS: We conducted a national, cross-sectional survey (March - October 2024) using probabilistic sampling stratified by specialist status. Eligible participants were physicians with ≥ 1 year of intensive care unit experience across Brazil's 27 federative units. Burnout was measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (overall burnout defined as ≥ 1 altered domain), and life satisfaction with the Satisfaction With Life Scale (low life satisfaction < 25 points). Because many physicians hold multiple intensive care unit jobs, the unit of analysis was the physician-employment link. Prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using multivariable Poisson regression with robust variance under a Generalized Estimating Equations framework. RESULTS: Among 2,338 physicians (3,112 intensive care unit employment links), burnout prevalence was 68.9%, and low life satisfaction 54.2%. In adjusted analyses, burnout was less frequent among physicians aged > 50 years (prevalence ratio of 0.75; 95%CI 0.69 - 0.82) and those reporting frequent recovery behaviors, particularly good sleep quality ≥ 3 days/week (prevalence ratio of 0.81; 95%CI 0.77 - 0.86), while work schedule overload was positively associated with burnout (prevalence ratio of 1.25; 95%CI 1.15 - 1.36). Low life satisfaction was independently associated with working outside certified intensive care practice (prevalence ratio of 1.13; 95%CI 1.04 - 1.24), longer commuting distances (> 20km/week), and schedule overload, whereas leisure activity, adequate nutrition, and good sleep quality were inversely associated. CONCLUSION: Burnout and low life satisfaction are highly prevalent among intensive care unit physicians in Brazil. Organizational load, particularly schedule burden and commuting distance, and recovery behaviors show independent associations with one or both outcomes. These findings highlight opportunities for organization-directed workload reforms and for promoting access to recovery resources as strategies to support clinician well-being and the sustainability of the intensive care unit workforce.