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International Journal for Equity in Health
Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research

Determinants of village doctors’ job satisfaction under China’s health sector reform: a cross-sectional mixed methods study

Authors: Tongtong Li, Trudy Lei, Fiona Sun, Zheng Xie

Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

Background

To strengthen rural health workforce, the Chinese government has launched a series of policies to promote the job satisfaction of village doctors since the health sector reform. The purpose of this mixed-method study is to describe village doctors’ job satisfaction under the context of health sector reform and investigate the associated factors.

Methods

Data was obtained from a survey of village doctors across three Chinese provinces in 2014. Using a multistage sampling process, quantitative data was collected from village doctors through the self-administered questionnaire and analyzed by multilevel logistic regression models. Qualitative data was collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews on both village doctors and health managers. Theoretical coding was then conducted to analyze qualitative data.

Results

Among the 1221 respondents, 48.6% felt satisfied with their job. Older village doctors with less of a workload and under high-level integrated management were more likely to feel satisfied with their job. Village doctors who earned the top level of monthly income felt more satisfied, while on the county level, those who lived in counties with the highest GDP felt less satisfied. However, enrollment in a pension plan showed no significant difference in regards to village doctors’ job satisfaction.
Among 34 participants of qualitative interviews, most believed that age, income, and integrated management had a positive influence on the job satisfaction, while pension plan and basic public health care policies exhibited negative effects. Also, the increasing in availability of healthcare and health resources along with local economic development had negative effects on village doctors’ job satisfaction.

Conclusion

Village doctors’ job satisfaction was quite low in regards to several determinants including age, income, workload, enrollment in a pension plan, integrated management, and county economic and medical availability development.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Determinants of village doctors’ job satisfaction under China’s health sector reform: a cross-sectional mixed methods study
Authors
Tongtong Li
Trudy Lei
Fiona Sun
Zheng Xie
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
International Journal for Equity in Health / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1475-9276
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-017-0560-8

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