Background. We assessed risk of burnout in GPs during a 7-year followup and examined whether (1) thoughts about changing medical specialty increased the risk of burnout and (2) burned out GPs had higher job turnover rates than burnout-free GPs. Methods. In 2004 and 2012, all GPs in the county of Aarhus, Denmark, were invited to participate in a survey. Retirement status of physicians who participated in 2004 was obtained through the Registry of Health Providers in 2012. Results. 216 GPs completed both surveys. The risk of developing burnout during the 7-year followup was 13.2% (8.2–19.6%). GPs who in 2004 were burnout-free and reported that they would not select general practice as medical specialty again had a statistically significant increased risk of burnout in 2012 (OR？=？4.5; 95% CI？=？1.2–16.5; ). Among GPs with burnout in 2004, 25.0% had withdrawn from general practice during followup compared to 28.8% of burnout-free GPs in 2004 (adj. OR？=？0.99; 95% CI？=？0.48–2.02; ). Conclusion. The 7-year incidence of burnout was 13%. Thoughts about changing medical specialty were an important predictor of burnout. Burned out GPs had not higher job turnover rates than burnout-free GPs. 1. Introduction Burnout among general practitioners (GPs) appears to be common, with reported prevalence proportions varying from approximately 12% [1] to 42% [2]. The span in prevalence proportions may reflect actual differences in examined populations stemming from variations in demographic characteristics and in organization of general practice. Methodological issues such as differences in applied cutoffs for classification of burnout cases and cultural variations concerning the attitude to disclose poor well being may of course also play a role. Burnout is a psychological construct defined as a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job and is characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a subjective experience of decreased personal accomplishment [3]. The negative effects of burnout on GPs’ job performance are controversial. On the one hand, burnout has been associated with decreased empathy in medical students [4] and with an increased number of self-reported medical errors in surgeons [5]. On the other hand, two studies did not reveal significant associations between depersonalisation and patient-rated interpersonal skills [6] and between burnout symptoms and the GPs’ awareness of patients’ psychosocial problems [7]. Studies of burnout have often used a cross-sectional design and there is no good knowledge of the
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