The influence of personality, alexithymia and work engagement on burnout among village doctors in China: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background In China, as the “gatekeepers”of rural residents’ health, the primary-level village doctors, play a very crucial role in ensuring and serving the health level of rural residents. However, the burnout of village doctors is gravely threatening the stability of rural primary medical system step by step. This study systematically evaluated the effects of personality, work engagement and alexithymia on burnout of village doctors, and further measured and assessed the mediating effect of alexithymia and work engagement in the association between personality and burnout. Methods The subjects were 2684 village doctors in Jining, Shandong Province, China, from May to June 2019. Sociodemographic characteristics, alexithymia, personality, work engagement and job burnout were quantitated by self-completed questionnaire and measured by Likert 5–7 scale. One-way ANOVA, Person correlation analysis, and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were used for statistical analysis and mediating effect evaluation. Results 2693 questionnaires were collected in total, of which 2684 were valid, with an effective rate of 96.2%. 65.2% of village doctors were diagnosed with burnout, and 54.3% showed moderate to severe emotional exhaustion, 61.6% showed moderate to severe low sense of personal achievement, and 33.9% showed moderate to severe depersonalization burnout. Personality had a direct positive effect on work engagement (β = 0.50, p < 0.001), a direct negative effect on alexithymia (β = − 0.52, p < 0.001) and burnout (β = − 0.50, p < 0.001) respectively. Work engagement had a direct negative effect on burnout (β = − 0.10, p < 0.001), while alexithymia had a direct positive effect on burnout (β = 0.16, p < 0.001). In the path between personality and burnout, both work engagement 95%CI:(− 0.17)–(− 0.08), and alexithymia 95%CI:(− 0.36)–(− 0.09), have significant mediating effects. These results strongly confirm that personality, alexithymia, and work engagement are early and powerful predicators of burnout. Conclusion According to the results, medical administrators should pay attention to the personality characteristics of village doctors in vocational training, practice selection and job assignment, encourage village doctors to reflect on their own personality actively, and to reduce job burnout by obtaining necessary social support, constructing reasonable achievable career expectations, improving time management ability, and participating in psychological counselling programs.

Burnout, Professional Self-Efficacy, and Life Satisfaction as Predictors of Job Performance in Health Care Workers: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement

“… 58 , 59 Burnout syndrome affects the health status of health care workers, impacting work commitment and patient safety. 56 , 60 , 61 Consequently, it is imperative that organizations make interventions to prevent the deterioration of the health status of health personnel, which have been magnified by the health emergency. Burnout management should be a means for work engagement, as workers who do not have clear objectives are hesitant to complete tasks and incur less effort and less effective performance from healthcare professionals.…”

Global Insights Into Rural Health Workers' Job Satisfaction: A Scientometric Perspective

“…A recent meta-analysis indicated that the prevalence of turnover intention of rural primary healthcare workers was about 23.4%−42.1% (28). Other studies had also shown the low job satisfaction of RHWs in China (1,2,31,32). From the existing research, both of them had become an important reason to aggravate the occurrence of turnover behaviors.…”

“…A number of studies directed at RHWs in China also supported that motivation and job satisfaction were inseparable. Under the condition of insufficient objective resources, strong motivation was an important subjective condition to improve job satisfaction and reduce turnover intention (2,14,31,32,(36)(37)(38).…”

“…Although the supply of pharmacists in Australia exceeded the demand, the supply of pharmacists in rural and remote areas was still insufficient, even if their job satisfaction level was high (40,41). In the remote rural areas of Western China, the job satisfaction of RHWs was significantly lower than that of economically developed provinces or regions in the East (1,2,36,38,42).…”

“…Rural health workers (RHWs), including doctors, nurses, public healthcare workers, and administrative staff, play an irreplaceable role in ensuring and improving the health level of rural residents as the most basic and extensive medical service providers in rural areas. They offer a series of primary healthcare services, including the establishment of rural health archives, education of health knowledge, prevention and control of infectious diseases, healthcare for the elderly, and management of chronic diseases (1)(2)(3). However, rural health institutions are facing significant worker shortages worldwide, not only in low-and middleincome countries (4,5) but also in developed countries (6,7).…”