App-based mindfulness training drops anxiety by 57% (and burnout) in physicians

Dr. Jud’s lab at Brown University studied the effects of the Unwinding Anxiety app to see if it could reduce anxiety in physicians, who not only struggle with burnout but also report that they don’t have time for self-care. Understanding how anxiety becomes a habit is key to this research. Before the study started, 60% of clinicians reported moderate to severe anxiety and 52% reported feeling burnt out at least a few times a week. Within a month of using the app, both anxiety and burnout had gone down by 50%. At three months, anxiety was down 57% from baseline levels. This study was funded by a research grant from the UMass Memorial hospital system, and was recently published in the leading eHealth journal JMIR mHealth uHealth. Here’s the press release summary of the study from Brown University. Here’s a 9-minute YouTube video by Dr. Jud on why doctors get burnt out and how mindfulness can help. Healthcare providers can learn more about this study and how to protect themselves from burnout in this free webinar series.  You can also explore Dr. Jud’s guided mindfulness exercises for practical tools you can start using today. Stay tuned for additional free resources for health care providers and the general public. Get a free guide from Dr. Jud today to learn how you can decrease anxiety and alleviate burnout

About This Research

This study demonstrated that a smartphone-based mindfulness program could significantly reduce anxiety and burnout among physicians — a population with notoriously limited time for self-care. The findings suggest that brief, app-delivered mindfulness interventions can be practical and effective for high-stress professionals.

Full citation: Roy, A., Druker, S., Hoge, E. A., & Brewer, J. A. (2020). Physician Anxiety and Burnout: Symptom Correlates and Association With App-Delivered Mindfulness Training. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(4), e15608. DOI: 10.2196/15608 | PubMed: JMIR mHealth uHealth