Impact of conflict related and workplace related violence on job satisfaction among physicians from Iraq - a descriptive cross-sectional multicentre study

Abstract

Background: During the last decade, the events of violence against healthcare providers have been escalated, especially in the areas of conflicts. This study aimed to test the impact of conflict-related and workplace-related violence on job satisfaction among Iraqi physicians. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a self-administered survey was conducted among medical doctors in Iraq from January to June 2014. Participants (n=535, 81.1% response rate) were selected at random from 20 large general and district hospitals using a multistage sampling technique. Results: The mean (+SD) value on the total job satisfaction score was 42.26 (+14.63). The majority of respondents (67.3%) experienced unsafe medical practice; however, the conflict- related violence showed no significant difference in job satisfaction scores. In backward regression analysis, two socio-demographic variables (age, gender), and three work-related variables (being a specialist, working less than 40 hours per week, working in both government and private sector) were positively related to job satisfaction, while the workplace violence variables were negatively related. It was found that increases in physical attack, verbal abuse, bullying, and racial harassment brought about decreases in job satisfaction scores of 6,087, 3.014, 9,107, and 4,242, respectively. Conclusion: Our results suggest that work-related variables and workplace violence do affect job satisfaction. Specifically, when physicians have been physically attacked, verbally abused, bullied, and racially harassed, their job satisfaction decreases significantly.