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Health system reforms, violence against doctors and job satisfaction in the medical profession: a cross-sectional survey in Zhejiang Province, Eastern China.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:To explore the factors influencing doctors' job satisfaction and morale in China, in the context of the ongoing health system reforms and the deteriorating doctor-patient relationship. DESIGN:Cross-sectional survey using self-completion questionnaires. STUDY SETTING:The survey was conducted from March to May 2012 among doctors at the provincial, county and primary care levels in Zhejiang Province, China. RESULTS:The questionnaire was completed by 202 doctors. Factors which contributed most to low job satisfaction were low income and long working hours. Provincial level doctors were most dissatisfied while primary care doctors were the least dissatisfied. Three per cent of doctors at high-level hospitals and 27% of those in primary care were satisfied with the salary. Only 7% at high-level hospitals were satisfied with the work hours, compared to 43% in primary care. Less than 10% at high levels were satisfied with the amount of paid vacation time (3%) and paid sick leave (5%), compared with 38% and 41%, respectively, in primary care. Overall, 87% reported that patients were more likely to sue and that patient violence against doctors was increasing. Only 4.5% wanted their children to be doctors. Of those 125 who provided a reason, 34% said poor pay, 17% said it was a high-risk profession, and 9% expressed concerns about personal insecurity or patient violence. CONCLUSIONS:Doctors have low job satisfaction overall. Recruitment and retention of doctors have become major challenges for the Chinese health system. Measures must be taken to address this, in order to ensure recruitment and retention of doctors in the future. These measures must first include reduction of doctors' workload, especially at provincial hospitals, partly through incentivisation of appropriate utilisation of primary care, increase in doctors' salary and more effective measures to tackle patient violence against doctors.

SUBMITTER: Wu D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4281536 | biostudies-other | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Health system reforms, violence against doctors and job satisfaction in the medical profession: a cross-sectional survey in Zhejiang Province, Eastern China.

Wu Dan D Wang Yun Y Lam Kwok Fai KF Hesketh Therese T

BMJ open 20141231 12

<h4>Objective</h4>To explore the factors influencing doctors' job satisfaction and morale in China, in the context of the ongoing health system reforms and the deteriorating doctor-patient relationship.<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional survey using self-completion questionnaires.<h4>Study setting</h4>The survey was conducted from March to May 2012 among doctors at the provincial, county and primary care levels in Zhejiang Province, China.<h4>Results</h4>The questionnaire was completed by 202 doctor ...[more]

PMID: 25552614

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Project description:BackgroundSporadic Japanese encephalitis (JE) cases still have been reported in Zhejiang Province in recent years, and concerns about vaccine cross-protection and population-level immunity have been raised off and on within the public health sphere. Genotype I (GI) has replaced GIII as the dominant genotype in Asian countries during the past few decades, which caused considerable concerns about the potential change of epidemiology characteristics and the vaccine effectiveness. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of JE neutralizing antibody and its waning antibody trend after live attenuated JE vaccine immunization. Additionally, this study analyzed the molecular characteristics of the E gene of Zhejiang Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) strains, and established genetic relationships with other JEV strains.Methodology/principal findingsA total of 570 serum specimens were sampled from community population aged from 0 to 92 years old in Xianju county of Zhejiang Province in 2013-2014. Microseroneutralization test results were analyzed to estimate the population immunity and to observe antibody dynamics in vaccinated children. E genes of 28 JEV strains isolated in Zhejiang Province were sequenced for phylogenetic tree construction and molecular characteristics analysis with other selected strains. Positive JE neutralizing antibody rates were higher in residents ≥35 years old (81%~98%) and lower in residents <35 years old (0~57%). 7 or 8 years after the 2nd live attenuated vaccine dose, the antibodies against for 4 different strains with microseroneutralization test were decreased by 55%~73% on seropositive rates and by 25%~38% on GMTs respectively. JEV strains isolated in recent years were all grouped into GI, while those isolated in the 1980s belonged to GIII. On important amino acid sites related to antigenicity, there was no divergence between the Zhejiang JE virus strains and the vaccine strain (SA14-14-2).Conclusion/significancesJE neutralizing antibody positive rates increase in age ≥10 years old population, likely reflecting natural infection or natural boosting of immunity through exposure to wild virus. JE seropositivity rates were quite low in <35 years old age groups in Zhejiang Province. Waning of neutralizing antibody after live attenuated vaccine immunization was observed, but the clinical significance should be further investigated. Both the peripheral antibody response and genetic characterization indicate that current live attenuated JE vaccine conferred equal neutralizing potency against GI or GIII of wild strains. GI has replaced GIII as the dominant genotype in Zhejiang in the past few decades. Although the chance of exposure to wild JE virus has reduced, the virus still circulates in nature; therefore, it is necessary to implement immunization program for children continually and to conduct surveillance activity periodically.

Project description:BackgroundThe resurgence of pertussis has occurred in many countries. However, the epidemiological profiles of pertussis cannot be well understood by the current surveillance system in China. This study was designed to investigate the age specific serologic evidence of antibodies against pertussis, and to offer information regarding the existence of pertussis infection in Zhejiang Province, China.MethodsA cross-sectional serosurvey was carried out in 6 counties of Zhejiang Province during September and October of 2014. The immunoglobulin G-pertussis toxin (IgG-PT) levels were measured quantitatively with a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The antibody activities were expressed in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-U/ml and a level ≥30 FDA-U/ml was considered seropositive. An IgG-PT >80 FDA-U/ml indicated recent pertussis infection if the patient had not received immunization with the pertussis vaccine within the last year.ResultsThe mean IgG-PT seropositivity rate among the 2107 subjects was 33.32% with a geometric mean concentration of 17.73 (95% confidence interval: 16.90-18.60) FDA-U/ml. The difference in the seropositivity rates reached significant means among the different age groups (waldχ2 = 198.41, P<0.0005), and children aged 3 years had the highest percentage (63.24%) of undetectable IgG-PT level. Of the 1707 subjects ≥3 years of age, 169 (9.90%) had evidence of a recent infection. The highest proportion of IgG-PT levels ≥80 FDA-U/ml was found in ≥60 years age group followed by 11-15 and 16-25 years age groups.ConclusionsThis study indicates the rather lower IgG-PT level sustained 1 year after the acellular pertussis vaccine booster dose, and substantial proportion of population susceptibility to pertussis in Zhejiang Province, China. Moreover, pertussis infection is not uncommon; it was estimated that 10% of subjects were recently infected approximately within the last 100 days. We highly suggest that the surveillance capacity should be strengthened and consider introducing booster dose that protect against pertussis in 6 years old children.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The purpose of this study was to measure the level of job satisfaction of certified physicians in rural primary health care facilities (PHCFs) in Shandong Province in order to ascertain the key factors affecting their satisfaction and to provide effective information for policy decisions. METHODS:This cross-sectional study was conducted among certified physicians in PHCFs in rural Shandong from June to August 2016. An anonymous questionnaire was completed by 495 participants (valid response rate: 91.6%). Data were analyzed using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multiple linear regression. RESULTS:The participants consisted of 310 (62.6%) males and 185 (37.4%) females. The overall mean score for job satisfaction among respondents was 3.41 (standard deviation (SD) 0.68), which indicated that certified physicians were partially satisfied with their jobs. Results also indicated that factors for the highest level of satisfaction among certified physicians were the internal environment and job description. Moreover, physicians were more satisfied with competency behaviours and organizational management than with working conditions and job rewards. In contrast, physicians were dissatisfied with the external environment to an extent. Overall job satisfaction decreased with more years of service. Older physicians were less satisfied with their jobs than younger ones. Physicians with a higher level of education or senior professional title were less satisfied with their jobs than those with a lower level of education or junior professional tilte. Organizational management and the external environment were the most important factors influencing job satisfaction. CONCLUSION:Certified physicians working in PHCFs in rural Shandong had a slightly higher level of overall job satisfaciton than usual. After recent healthcare reforms, the job satisfaction of primary health care physicians in Shandong has changed little in comparison to that of physicians in other provinces in China. More attention should be paid to the impacts of these variables (age, educational background, technical title, monthly salary, form of employment, and years of service) on job satisfaction. Numerous recommendations may be considered to enhance organizational management and the external environment. The Government should enhace the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of policies to ensure that physicians continue to enjoy working in PHCFs. In short, the Government should pay more attention to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of primary care physicians when devising medical reforms.

Project description:BackgroundDengue is one of the most important vector-bore infectious diseases in China because of its drastic increase in incidence, geographic extension and profound influence on China's economy. This study aims to retrospectively uncover the epidemiological profile of dengue in Zhejiang, one of the most developed provinces in China, and to find the problem existing in dengue control and prevention.MethodologyDescriptive analyses on the dengue incidence and associated factors were performed. We also identified potential space-time cluster and generated the risk map of dengue.Principal findingsA total of 529 cases were reported in Zhejiang Province from 2005 to 2016, and 44.4% were imported. 67.7% of cases were 25~60 years old and the overall male-to-female sex ratio was 1.09:1. Dengue was reported all year round and 70.7% of cases occurred between August and October. Indigenous cases were only reported in the period between July to November and more than half occurred in September. Geographically, dengue was most distributed in Jinghua (3.62 per million), Shaoxing (1.00 per million) and Taizhou (0.81 per million) prefecture level cities. Outbreaks were confirmed in Yiwu, Keqiao and Huangyan counties in 2009, 2015, and 2016, respectively. 73.9% cases would seek medical advice within two days after onset and be confirmed within 9 days after onset. 75.6% would be recognized as dengue within 8 days after their first visit. The time intervals between onset and confirmation (median 7 vs 6 days; Wilcoxon rank sum test Z = -2.40, P = 0.016), first visit and confirmation (median 7 vs 6 days; Wilcoxon rank sum test Z = -2.59, P = 0.009) of indigenous cases were significantly longer than those of imported ones. However, the time intervals between onset and first visit for indigenous cases was shorter (median 0 vs 1 days; Wilcoxon rank sum test Z = -2.10, P = 0.036). Fever (99.1%), fatigue (81.9), rash (63.7%), headache (67.2%) and myalgia (52.60%) were the most frequently mentioned symptoms.ConclusionsZhejiang has recently witnessed an increase in incidence and geographic extension of dengue. Timely diagnosis is important to stop local transmission and outbreak.

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Health system reforms, violence against doctors and job satisfaction in the medical profession: a cross-sectional survey in Zhejiang Province, Eastern China.

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Health system reforms, violence against doctors and job satisfaction in the medical profession: a cross-sectional survey in Zhejiang Province, Eastern China.

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