Do job stress, health, and presenteeism differ between Chinese healthcare workers in public and private hospitals: a cross sectional study

ABSTRACT

To determine if job stress, health, and presenteeism differ between healthcare workers at Chinese public and private hospitals. This cross-sectional study analyzed the records of 1080 healthcare workers in eastern, central, and western China for the period from January2015 through November2015. Data on challenge stress, hindrance stress, health, and presenteeism were collected. Using univariate and multivariate regression and SPSS, we investigated differences between Chinese public and private hospitals in China. Challenge stress, hindrance stress, and presenteeism, but not health status, significantly differed between healthcare workers at public and private hospitals in China. Challenge stress and hindrance stress were significantly higher in public hospitals, while presenteeism was significantly lower in private hospitals. The significant differences between public and private hospitals are attributable to differences in the business practices and management of public and private hospitals. To achieve successful long-term medical reform in China, the adverse effects of psychosocial factors should be considered in future research plans and policies. Chinese hospitals urgently require improvements in management and leadership. Reform efforts should encompass fields such as management science, psychology, and the behavioral sciences.

KEYWORDS:

• Public hospitals
• private hospitals
• presenteeism
• challenge stress
• hindrance stress

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by National Science Funding of China (grant no. 71974011, 71804009, 71972012, 91746116, 71603018), Beijing Social Science Foundation (grant no. 17JDGLB008, 17GLC043), MOE Project of Humanities and Social Sciences (grant no. 16YJC630017), Special Plan for Basic Research of Beijing Institute of Technology (grant no. 20192142002), Special Fund for Joint Development Program of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education.