The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Burnout in Clinical Genetic Counselors: A Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Burnout is common among genetic counselors (GCs). Clinician burnout has been found to adversely affect individual well-being, patient care, and likelihood of staying in a role. Both individual and systems solutions are needed to address clinician burnout. Mindfulness meditation (MM) is one individual-level solution that has shown promise for reducing burnout in other clinicians but has not been studied in GCs. We conducted a decentralized, parallel, three-arm randomized controlled trial comparing MM to a novel active control meditation (ACM) and a no-meditation control (NMC), with 1:1:1 randomization. Participants were clinical GCs in the US. MM and ACM participants were asked to do 10 minutes of daily app-based meditation for 8 weeks. ACM was designed to control for non-specific aspects of MM by mimicking MM length and structure without including mindfulness techniques. The primary outcome, burnout, was assessed using the Professional Fulfillment Index. Secondary outcomes included other indicators of professional well-being, such as stress and professional fulfillment. Outcomes were assessed via an intention-to-treat approach, with multiple imputation for missing outcome data. Outcome analyses controlled for baseline trait mindfulness. 397 participants (mean age 33 years; 97.7% female, 94.2% White) were randomized, and 76% completed post-intervention outcome measures. There was no difference in burnout reduction between MM and ACM groups (p = 0.44). However, multiple measures suggest that ACM did not perform well as an inert active meditation control, thus the primary hypothesis could not be effectively tested. In pre-planned secondary analyses, MM reduced burnout (Cohens d = -0.84, p < 0.001) compared to NMC, a passive control. Similar results were seen for stress. These findings suggest MM may be beneficial for GC professional well-being; however, further research on MM for GCs is needed with more diverse study samples and better active controls.