Table 1.
Participant characteristics of public health practitioners (N = 144)
| Characteristic | n (%)a,b |
|---|---|
| Highest degree earned | |
| Doctoral | 14 (9.9) |
| Master of Public Health | 23 (16.3) |
| Other master’s degree | 46 (32.6) |
| Nursing | 21 (14.9) |
| Bachelor’s degree or less | 37 (26.2) |
| Program area | |
| Obesity, physical activity, nutrition | 36 (25.0)c |
| Tobacco | 27 (18.8) |
| Cancer | 19 (13.2) |
| Diabetes/cardiovascular health | 11 (7.6) |
| Health promotion | 52 (36.1) |
| School health | 20 (13.9) |
| Environmental health | 23 (16.0) |
| Maternal and child health | 22 (15.3) |
| Communicable diseases/immunizations | 26 (18.1) |
| Epidemiology or evaluation | 35 (24.3) |
| Otherd | 48 (33.3) |
| Agency or organization type | |
| State health department | 38 (26.4) |
| Local health department (city or county) | 80 (55.6) |
| University | 7 (4.9) |
| Community-based organization | 7 (4.9) |
| Other specifiede | 12 (8.3) |
| Job position | |
| Program manager or coordinator | 51 (35.4) |
| Health educator or community health worker | 36 (25.0) |
| Epidemiologist or statistician | 9 (6.3) |
| Division, Department or Bureau Head/Director/Deputy | 16 (11.1) |
| Academic researcher or educator | 7 (4.9) |
| Program planner or evaluator | 7 (4.9) |
| Other specifiedf | 18 (12.5) |
| Years worked in public health, mean ± SD | 9.5 ± 7.2 |
aPercentage reported for valid, non-missing cases
bSome percentages do not sum to 100 % due to rounding
cPercentages do not sum to 100 % as participants were able to select multiple program areas
dExamples of other program areas include family planning, oral health, injury prevention, emergency preparedness, asthma, and healthy aging
eExamples of other specified organization types include voluntary health organization, consulting business, medical membership organization and other governmental agencies
fExamples of other job position types include environmental health and other program area specialists, manager of contracts, and program consultant