Factors influencing job satisfaction among doctors working in public health facilities in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

Background: Doctors play a key role in the adaptation and performance of the healthcare systems in their structure and available resources. But gradually a physician’s job has lost its charm as it used to be in past. Employee job satisfaction is the fulfillment, gratification, and enjoyment that comes from work. Doctors, whose needs and expectations are satisfied, tend to be more productive compared to their colleagues. In Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) assuring job satisfaction among doctors is a major challenging issue, but no one ever conducted a study of this magnitude on doctor’s job satisfaction nationwide. Thus, this paper is aimed at describing factors influencing job satisfaction among doctors working in public health facilities in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional nation-based study design was carried out on December 2021 to describe the factors influencing job satisfaction among 952 doctors working in Public Health Facilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, using secondary data coming from Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program/Service Provision Assay (SPA) DRC 2017 – 2018. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used to identify factors related to job satisfaction. Variables which have P-value less than or equal to 0.05 with corresponding AOR (Adjusted Odds Ratio) at 95 % confidence interval was considered to declare the significance association. Results: The overall job satisfaction among doctors working in Public Health Facilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was 23.0%. However, 371 (39.0 %) declared they have received promotional opportunities, 754 (79.2 %) declared they received salary supplements, and 519 (54.5%) received non-monetary incentives. The majority of doctors were males (85.1%), general practitioner (98.3%) or worked in referral general hospitals (77.8%). Also, more than half of doctors (66.5%) worked more than 45 hours on average each week, and the mean of their hours of work was 49.8 hours. Almost all doctors 98.5% had less than or equal to 15 years of work experience, and the mean of their work experience was 3.7 years. 63.3% of doctors were managers and 62.8% of them were in rural area. The management position, written job description and in-service training opportunity were identified as significant factors for the satisfaction of doctors on their job after adjusting for confounding factors. Doctors who were in management position were 2.789 times more likely to get satisfied with their job compared to those who were not (AOR = 2.789, 95% CI (1.798, 4.325)). Those who had or declared to have a written job description were 1.697 times more likely to get satisfied with their job compared to the counterpart (AOR = 1.697, 95% CI (1.184, 2.431)). Those doctors who have received at least one in-service training, training updates or refresher trainings within past 24 months were 1.90 times more likely to get satisfied with their job compared to those who have not (AOR = 1.90, 95% CI (1.32, 2.73)). Conclusion: According to this study, only one-fourth of the doctors working in public sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo were satisfied on their work. The study suggests that doctor’s management position, written job description and in-service training opportunity were identified as important predictors of job satisfaction. Therefore, those indicators should be considered to improve the quality of healthcare in public health policy making process.