Table 2. Basic descriptive analysis of the respondents, n(%).
| Variable | Community health center/ township hospital | Secondary public hospital | Tertiary public hospital | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 408 | n = 623 | n = 625 | n = 1656 | |
| Personal characteristics | ||||
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 191(46.81) | 366(58.75) | 338(54.08) | 895(54.05) |
| Female | 217(53.19) | 257(41.25) | 287(45.92) | 761(45.95) |
| Age (years) | ||||
| <30 | 77(18.87) | 106(17.01) | 154(24.64) | 337(20.35) |
| 30–39 | 162(39.71) | 285(45.75) | 332(53.12) | 779(47.04) |
| 40–49 | 106(25.98) | 180(28.89) | 111(17.76) | 397(23.97) |
| ≥50 | 63(15.44) | 52(8.35) | 28(4.48) | 143(8.64) |
| Professional qualifications (Missing = 24) | ||||
| Resident or below & | 229(57.39) | 269(43.60) | 278(45.13) | 776(47.55) |
| Attending physician | 125(31.33) | 213(34.52) | 204(33.12) | 542(33.21) |
| (Associate) chief physician | 45(11.28) | 135(21.88) | 134(21.75) | 314(19.24) |
| Education $ | ||||
| Associate’s degree or below | 188(46.08) | 74(11.88) | 26(4.16) | 288(17.39) |
| Bachelor’s degree | 209(51.23) | 493(79.13) | 300(48.00) | 1002(60.51) |
| Master’s degree or above | 11(2.70) | 56(8.99) | 299(47.84) | 366(22.10) |
| Years in the profession (years) | ||||
| 1–5 | 90(22.06) | 139(22.31) | 217(34.72) | 446(26.93) |
| 6–10 | 73(17.89) | 161(25.84) | 171(27.36) | 405(24.46) |
| 11–15 | 66(16.18) | 81(13.00) | 90(14.40) | 237(14.31) |
| 16–20 | 58(14.22) | 116(18.62) | 86(13.76) | 260(15.70) |
| >20 | 121(29.66) | 126(20.22) | 61(9.76) | 308(18.60) |
| Annual income (RMB) | ||||
| <50,000 | 250(61.27) | 355(56.98) | 232(37.12) | 837(50.54) |
| [50,000–100,000) | 123(30.15) | 222(35.63) | 229(36.64) | 574(34.66) |
| ≥100,000 | 35(8.58) | 46(7.38) | 164(26.24) | 245(14.79) |
| Health status | ||||
| Very poor or poor | 45(11.03) | 87(13.96) | 94(15.04) | 226(13.65) |
| Not bad | 184(45.10) | 320(51.36) | 355(56.80) | 859(51.87) |
| Good or great | 179(43.87) | 216(34.67) | 176(28.16) | 571(34.48) |
| Initial vocational motivation | ||||
| Enthusiasm for medicine | 212(51.96) | 281(45.10) | 264(42.24) | 757(45.71) |
| Solely for a living | 113(27.70) | 228(36.60) | 220(35.20) | 561(33.88) |
| Family’s wishes | 50(12.25) | 72(11.56) | 87(13.92) | 209(12.62) |
| Others | 33(8.09) | 42(6.74) | 54(8.64) | 129(7.79) |
| Personal toughness, M(SD) | 4.93(0.74) | 4.90(0.87) | 4.76(0.88) | 4.85(0.85) |
| Work-related factors | ||||
| Location | ||||
| Shanghai | 132(32.35) | 169(27.13) | 235(37.60) | 536(32.37) |
| Gansu | 122(29.90) | 245(39.33) | 195(31.20) | 562(33.94) |
| Hubei | 154(37.75) | 209(33.55) | 195(31.20) | 558(33.70) |
| Department | ||||
| Internal medicine | 37(9.07) | 201(32.26) | 170(27.20) | 408(24.64) |
| Surgery | 14(3.43) | 170(27.29) | 150(24.00) | 334(20.17) |
| Gynecology/Obstetrics/Pediatrics | 20(4.90) | 76(12.20) | 105(16.80) | 201(12.14) |
| ENT | 10(2.45) | 66(10.59) | 96(15.36) | 172(10.39) |
| Medical technique | 28(6.86) | 96(15.41) | 83(13.28) | 207(12.50) |
| General medicine and prevention care | 153(37.50) | 0(0.00) | 5(0.80) | 158(9.54) |
| Others | 146(35.78) | 14(2.25) | 16(2.56) | 176(10.63) |
| Night shift | ||||
| No | 231(56.62) | 139(22.31) | 111(17.76) | 481(29.05) |
| Yes | 177(43.38) | 484(77.69) | 514(82.24) | 1175(70.95) |
| Relationships with colleagues, M(SD) (Missing = 21) | 4.53(1.28) | 4.21(1.40) | 4.16(1.28) | 4.27(1.33) |
| Relationships with staff, M(SD) § (Missing = 6) | 4.65(1.19) | 4.27(1.26) | 4.13(1.23) | 4.31(1.25) |
| Organizational ethical climate, M(SD) | 4.73(0.73) | 4.59(0.90) | 4.52(0.80) | 4.59(0.83) |
Note. &In China, residents and below usually includes residents and physician assistants. "Residents" refer to those who have graduated from medical school and are in clinical training. Usually, they have to operate under the guidance of attending physicians and/or (associate) chief physicians. They are only permitted to practice some basic activities if they possess the corresponding qualifications after some training and they have obtained a national medical practitioner license. “Physician assistants” almost exclusively work in community health centers or township hospitals. They have graduated from medical school with an associate’s degree or below and have professional qualifications that are less than those of residents. In some township hospitals, especially those located in remote or poor villages, because of a lack of qualified physicians, physician assistants are allowed to provide basic healthcare services after they have passed the assistant medical practitioner’s examination.
$In China, most physicians in secondary and tertiary hospitals currently hold a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree or above. However, there are also some older physicians who have only associate’s degrees but who also have a high level of qualifications because of their abundant medical practice experience in secondary or tertiary hospitals. In community health centers and township hospitals, some healthcare practitioners such as residents or physician assistants still have an associate’s degree or below, and some older attending physicians who work in community health centers or township hospitals also have an associate’s degree.
§Staff includes nurses, medical technicians, and logistical personnel.