Health impacts of ‘overworked’ doctors revealed

Researchers have reported ‘significant’ changes in the brain structures of overworked healthcare workers, specifically in brain regions associated with executive function and emotional regulation.
 
They say their findings ‘underscore the importance of addressing overwork as an occupational health concern’, as well as highlighting the need for workplace policies to reduce excessive working hours.
 
These long hours will be all too familiar to many GPs, but one expert says there could also be positives to these apparent changes in brain structure.
 
Published in BMJ Journals, researchers from South Korea’s Chung-Ang University studied the brain scans of 110 healthcare workers.
 
The workers were classified into two groups – 32 ‘over-workers’ who worked more than 52 hours a week, and 78 who worked standard hours.
 
Researchers found, when compared with those who worked standard hours, clinicians who worked excessive hours had changes in the brain regions associated with working memory, problem solving, and emotional regulation. 
 
However, RACGP NSW&ACT Chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman said while the findings did suggest long working hours may induce neuroadaptive changes, the study did not clarify whether the growth would be detrimental to long-term health.
 
Dr Hoffman has previously explored the topic of GP burnout, having conducted research on junior doctor burnout in 2018 while a registrar, then with her 2024 thesis, Medicine and Parenting: Significance of stress and burnout.
 
‘We definitely are aware of lots of reasons why we shouldn’t work long hours,’ Dr Hoffman told newsGP.
 
Responding to the South Korean study, Dr Hoffman wonders if it in fact shows positive brain development, like a muscle becoming stronger to carry heavier weight.
 
‘It’s interesting because you could read it as one of two ways,’ she said.
 
‘There’s definitely structural brain changes that are seen with people who work long hours, but is that the brain adapting to be able to work long hours – like a muscle that’s growing to be able to adapt and function under those situations – or is it going to be a negative and a maladaptive response, which is what we see with cardiovascular health?
 
‘What that study doesn’t say is which one of those two it is.’
 
The South Korean researchers found that scans showed increased brain volume in key regions, including the middle frontal gyrus, insula and superior temporal gyrus.
 
They said those putting in long working hours every week were significantly younger, had spent less time in work and were more highly educated than those clocking up standard hours.
 
The researchers said as their work is a ‘small observational snapshot study’, and there is no long-term data, no conclusions could be drawn on cause and effect.
 
‘While the results should be interpreted cautiously due to the exploratory nature of this pilot study, they represent a meaningful first step in understanding the relationship between overwork and brain health,’ they wrote.
 
Dr Hoffman said the findings are ‘really exciting’.
 
‘It will be really fascinating to watch that space,’ she said.
 
‘As someone who works very long hours and really actually enjoys working very long hours and being ever an optimist, I’m going to take this [study] as being a good thing.’
 
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brain structure Chung-Ang University Korea mental health overwork work