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Differences in Well‐being between GPs , Medical Specialists, and Private Physicians: The Role of Psychosocial Factors
Author(s) -
Kuusio Hannamaria,
Heponiemi Tarja,
Aalto AnnaMari,
Sinervo Timo,
Elovainio Marko
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
health services research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.706
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1475-6773
pISSN - 0017-9124
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6773.2011.01313.x
Subject(s) - psychosocial , stressor , medicine , family medicine , distress , health care , psychology , nursing , clinical psychology , psychiatry , economics , economic growth
Objective To examine the well‐being differences among physicians working in different health care sectors and to test whether psychosocial stressors account for these differences. The well‐being indicators used were psychological distress, self‐rated health, and work ability. Data Sources/Study Setting A total of 2,841 randomly selected Finnish physicians (response rate 57 percent) returned the postal questionnaire, of which 2,047 (1,241 women) fulfilled all the participant criteria. Study Design This is a cross‐sectional questionnaire study. Principal Findings General practitioners and medical specialists experienced lower well‐being than private physicians and this difference was partly explained by differences in psychosocial stressors. Conclusions General practitioners and medical specialists report more problems in well‐being than private physicians. It is of particular importance to be aware of the sector‐specific difficulties in work environments.