#2-32E. Tracking Well-Being: Smartwatches Reduce Burnout and Boost Resilience in Physicians (JAMA Netw Open, 2025)

Physician burnout rates remain alarmingly high, threatening the quality and safety of patient care, necessitating robust intervention studies1.... This randomized clinical trial involving 184 physicians investigated whether wearing a smartwatch, granting access to personalized physiological data like heart rate and sleep, could effectively improve physician well-being. The key finding after six months showed that physicians in the intervention arm experienced a significant 54% reduction in the odds of overall burnout (OR, 0.46) and substantially higher resilience scores compared to controls, even after adjusting for baseline factors. This suggests that utilizing personalized physiological data is a worthwhile, evidence-based individual strategy to immediately support physicians and mitigate burnout risk. However, it is crucial to note the study limitation: blinding was not feasible due to the active intervention, meaning the self-reported outcomes may be subject to expectancy effects or social desirability bias. This finding offers a pragmatic, individualized tool for clinicians to manage their well-being alongside organizational efforts.

Citation: Dyrbye LN, West CP, Wilton AR, Satele DV, Athreya AP. Smartwatch Use and Physician Well-Being A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open. 2025;8(8):e2527275. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.27275

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