Work-Related Intervention Needs and Potential Occupational Outcomes among Medical Assistants: A Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Sample
2.2. Independent Variables
2.3. Occupational outcomes
- Intention to leave one’s employer: “How often during the last 12 months have you thought about changing your employer?” with the choice among five answer categories: never, a few times a year, a few times a month, a few times a week, and every day. Both items measuring the intention to leave were used in previous studies to measure intentions to leave among nurses [21,24,25].
- Intention to leave one’s profession: “How often during the last 12 months have you thought about giving up your position as MA and starting another professional activity?” with the response categories never, a few times a year, a few times a month, a few times a week, and every day.
- In line with a previous study about the public perception of nursing professions [26], participants in our study were asked the following questions:
- Choosing MA profession again: “Would you, if you had to make the decision today, choose the MA profession again?”. This item covers the satisfaction with one’s job in retrospective assessment. The following answer categories were presented: certainly, probably, rather not, and certainly not.
- Recommending MA training: “I would recommend the training as MA to (younger) people” with the answer categories I fully agree, I rather agree, I rather disagree, and I fully disagree.
2.4. Statistical Analyses
- yes: in any case, probably
- no: rather not, certainly not
- yes: I fully agree, I rather agree
- no: I rather disagree, I fully disagree
- Age (18–35 years, 36–45 years, ≥46 years)
- Sex (female, male)
- Gross salary (≤1499€, 1500€–1999€, ≥2000€)
- Employment status (full-time vs part-time/mini-job)
- Leadership position (yes vs no)
- Practice size (number of physicians and MAs)
- Practice location (major city >100,000 inhabitants, small city 20,000 to 100,000 inhabitants, rural area <20,000 inhabitants)
3. Results
4. Discussion
4.1. Findings in Light of Prior Studies
4.2. Implications
4.3. Strengths and Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Characteristics | |
---|---|
Age, mean (standard deviation) | 39.3 (11.4) |
18–35, n (%) | 264 (30.1) |
36–45, n (%) | 312 (35.5) |
≥46, n (%) | 302 (34.0) |
Female, n (%) | 865 (98.4) |
Marital status, n (%) | |
In a partnership | 445 (50.7) |
Single | 433 (49.3) |
Highest school degree, n (%) | |
Low 1 | 52 (5.9) |
Intermediate 2 | 653 (73.6) |
High 3 | 170 (19.4) |
Gross salary (€), n (%) | |
≤1499 | 291 (33.6) |
1500–1999 | 216 (24.9) |
≥ 2000 | 360 (41.5) |
Years in job, mean (SD) | 17.3 (11.3) |
Years in job, n (%) | |
0–10 | 293 (35.1) |
11–20 | 236 (28.3) |
≥21 | 305 (36.6) |
Practice type, n (%) | |
General practitioner | 345 (47.7) |
Specialist | 379 (52.5) |
Employment status, n (%) | |
Full-time | 510 (59.2) |
Part-time/Mini-job | 351 (40.8) |
Leadership position (yes), n (%) | 421 (48.0) |
Number of MAs in the employing practice, n (%) | |
1–3 | 288 (34.6) |
4–6 | 317 (38.1) |
≥7 | 227 (27.3) |
Number of practitioners in the employing practice, n (%) | |
1 | 262 (31.5) |
2 | 250 (30.0) |
≥3 | 320 (38.5) |
Practice size, mean (SD) | 9.0 (5.4) |
Practice location, n (%) | |
Large city | 343 (38.9) |
Small city | 370 (42.0) |
Rural area | 168 (19.1) |
Occupational Outcomes | n (%) | |
---|---|---|
Thinking about leaving the employer | Never | 278 (31.4) |
Few times a year | 335 (37.9) | |
Few times a month | 136 (15.4) | |
Few times a week | 94 (10.6) | |
Every day | 42 (4.7) | |
Thinking about leaving of the MA profession | Never | 363 (41.1) |
Few times a year | 323 (36.6) | |
Few times a month | 96 (10.9) | |
Few times a week | 67 (7.6) | |
Every day | 34 (3.9) | |
Would choose the MA profession again today | Certainly | 152 (18.2) |
Probably | 271 (32.4) | |
Rather not | 258 (30.8) | |
Certainly not | 156 (18.6) | |
Would recommend MA profession to young people | I fully agree | 114 (13.0) |
I rather agree | 364 (41.4) | |
I rather disagree | 281 (32.0) | |
I fully disagree | 120 (13.7) |
Independent Variables | Intention to Leave the Employer | Intention to Leave the Field of Profession | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Needs (n) | Standard deviation | Odds Ratio | 95%- Confidence interval | Odds Ratio | 95%- Confidence interval | |
Total needs score | 0–4 | Ref. | Ref. | |||
5–7 | 4.91 | 2.87–8.43 | 3.80 | 2.06–7.00 | ||
8–12 | 9.28 | 5.35–16.12 | 6.16 | 3.32–11.43 | ||
2.62 | 2.52 | 2.03–3.13 | 2.15 | 1.71–2.71 | ||
Needs working conditions | 1.58 | 1.67 | 1.39–2.02 | 1.55 | 1.26–1.91 | |
Needs reward from the supervisor | 1.05 | 2.61 | 2.08–3.27 | 2.02 | 1.59–2.55 | |
Needs task-related independence | 1.17 | 1.54 | 1.30–1.83 | 1.46 | 1.22–1.75 |
Independent Variables | Not Choosing MA Profession Again | Not Recommending Occupational Training as MA | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Needs (n) | Standard deviation | Odds Ratio | 95%- Confidence interval | Odds Ratio | 95%- Confidence interval | |
Total needs score | 0–4 | Ref. | Ref. | |||
5–7 | 3.68 | 2.40–5.64 | 3.65 | 2.38–5.62 | ||
8–12 | 4.83 | 3.06–7.62 | 5.44 | 3.44–8.59 | ||
2.62 | 2.09 | 1.73–2.52 | 2.04 | 1.70–2.45 | ||
Needs working conditions | 1.58 | 1.74 | 1.46–2.07 | 1.88 | 1.58–2.25 | |
Needs reward from the supervisor | 1.05 | 1.73 | 1.46–2.05 | 1.80 | 1.52–2.14 | |
Needs task-related independence | 1.17 | 1.36 | 1.15–1.61 | 1.14 | 0.97–1.33 |
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Scharf, J.; Vu-Eickmann, P.; Li, J.; Müller, A.; Angerer, P.; Loerbroks, A. Work-Related Intervention Needs and Potential Occupational Outcomes among Medical Assistants: A Cross-Sectional Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 2260. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16132260
Scharf J, Vu-Eickmann P, Li J, Müller A, Angerer P, Loerbroks A. Work-Related Intervention Needs and Potential Occupational Outcomes among Medical Assistants: A Cross-Sectional Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(13):2260. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16132260
Chicago/Turabian StyleScharf, Jessica, Patricia Vu-Eickmann, Jian Li, Andreas Müller, Peter Angerer, and Adrian Loerbroks. 2019. "Work-Related Intervention Needs and Potential Occupational Outcomes among Medical Assistants: A Cross-Sectional Study" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 13: 2260. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16132260