Work characteristics and psychological symptoms among GPs and community nurses: a preliminary investigation in China.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect of work characteristics on the psychological symptoms of general practitioners' (GPs) and community nurses.


METHODS
A stratified sampling cross-sectional survey was performed at the 12 community health services centres involved 233 GPs and 202 community nurses in three cities of Hubei Province in central China. The independent variables were career prospects, superior recognition, salary fairness, professional-patient relationship and self-perceived workload. The dependent variables were the General Health Questionnaire.


RESULTS
The generalized linear regression showed the career prospects had a significant association with GPs' psychological health, whereas career prospects, self-perceived workload and superior recognition had significant association on the psychological health of community nurses. However, salary fairness and professional-patient relationship were not statistically significant for GPs or community nurses.


CONCLUSIONS
A better understanding of the effects of career prospects on the psychological health of GPs and community nurses, and improvements in superior recognition and workload on the psychological health of community nurses, would improve psychological symptoms of primary-level medical staff.
Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hangkong Road 13, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
Liuyi
L
Zhang
Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hangkong Road 13, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
Fang
F
Wang
Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hangkong Road 13, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
Yao
Y
Cheng
Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hangkong Road 13, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
Ping
P
Zhang
Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hangkong Road 13, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China.
Yuan
Y
Liang
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002681:China; D003151:Community Health Centers; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses; D064691:Nurses, Community Health / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology
community nurses; general practitioners; mental health; occupational health; psychological symptoms; work characteristics