Factors associated with plans for early retirement among Ontario family physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

Rachel Walsh; Deanna Telner; Debra A Butt; Paul Krueger; Karen Fleming; Sarah MacDonald; Aakriti Pyakurel; Michelle Greiver; Liisa Jaakkimainen

doi:10.1186/s12875-024-02374-9

Factors associated with plans for early retirement among Ontario family physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

BMC Prim Care. 2024 Apr 18;25(1):118. doi: 10.1186/s12875-024-02374-9.

Authors

Rachel Walsh^{1

2}, Deanna Telner^{3

4}, Debra A Butt^{3

5}, Paul Krueger³, Karen Fleming^{6

3}, Sarah MacDonald⁷, Aakriti Pyakurel⁶, Michelle Greiver^{3

8}, Liisa Jaakkimainen^{6

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family and Community Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada. rachel.walsh@sunnybrook.ca.
² Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. rachel.walsh@sunnybrook.ca.
³ Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Department of Family and Community Medicine, Michael Garron Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁵ Department of Family and Community Medicine, Scarborough Health Network, Scarborough, ON, Canada.
⁶ Department of Family and Community Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁷ Western University, London, ON, Canada.
⁸ Department of Family and Community Medicine, North York General Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Higher numbers of family physicians (FPs) stopped practicing or retired during the COVID-19 pandemic, worsening the family doctor shortage in Canada. Our study objective was to determine which factors were associated with FPs' plans to retire earlier during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We administered two cross-sectional online surveys to Ontario FPs asking whether they were "planning to retire earlier" as a result of the pandemic during the first and third COVID-19 pandemic waves (Apr-Jun 2020 and Mar-Jul 2021). We used logistic regression to determine which factors were associated with early retirement planning, adjusting for age.

Results: The age-adjusted proportion of FP respondents planning to retire earlier was 8.2% (of 393) in the first-wave and 20.5% (of 454) in the third-wave. Planning for earlier retirement during the third-wave was associated with age over 50 years (50-59 years odds ratio (OR) 5.37 (95% confidence interval (CI):2.33-12.31), 60 years and above OR 4.18 (95% CI: 1.90-10.23)), having difficulty handling increased non-clinical responsibilities (OR 2.95 (95% CI: 1.79-4.94)), feeling unsupported to work virtually (OR 1.96 (95% CI: 1.19-3.23)) or in-person (OR 2.70 (95% CI: 1.67-4.55)), feeling unable to provide good care (OR 1.82 (95% CI: 1.10-3.03)), feeling work was not valued (OR 1.92 (95% CI: 1.15-3.23)), feeling frightened of dealing with COVID-19 (OR 2.01 (95% CI: 1.19-3.38)), caring for an elderly relative (OR 2.36 (95% CI: 1.69-3.97)), having difficulty obtaining personal protective equipment (OR 2.00 (95% CI: 1.16-3.43)) or difficulty implementing infection control practices in clinic (OR 2.10 (95% CI: 1.12-3.89)).

Conclusions: Over 20% of Ontario FP respondents were considering retiring earlier by the third-wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supporting FPs in their clinical and non-clinical roles, such that they feel able to provide good care and that their work is valued, reducing non-clinical (e.g., administrative) responsibilities, dealing with pandemic-related fears, and supporting infection control practices and personal protective equipment acquisition in clinic, particularly in those aged 50 years or older may help increase family physician retention during future pandemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; Early Retirement; Family physicians; Job turnover; Pandemic.

MeSH terms

Aged
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Ontario / epidemiology
Pandemics
Physicians, Family
Retirement*