Job satisfaction and psychological health among health workers in Lagos State teaching hospital, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Dissatisfactions found in various jobs have been identified as workplace stressors that can directly influence an employee’s psychological and physical health. This study assessed job satisfaction and its relationship with the psychological health of health workers at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).
Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted among 440 health workers in LASUTH. Participants were selected using the stratified sampling technique with the probability proportionate to size method. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire consisting of three sections: sociodemographic characteristics and work history, the Spector Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) and the General Health Questionnaire short version 12 (GHQ-12). Apart from the multidimensional JSS, the overall job satisfaction was also assessed using the single-item measure. Data was analysed with SPSS version 25.0. The level of statistical significance was d” 0.5.
Results: The mean age of respondents was 43.1 ± 9.2 years. Only 95 (21.6%) respondents expressed satisfaction on the single-item measure. Based on the JSS, the mean job satisfaction score was 126 ± 11.1 and mean GHQ score was
2.88 ± 2.43. There was a consistent weak negative correlation between job satisfaction scores and GHQ scores (p < 0.001). Furthermore, respondents who were satisfied with their job were less likely to have psychological morbidity (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Job satisfaction among respondents was low. This was associated with a high level of psychological morbidity. There is need for further investigations on the contemporary causes of job dissatisfaction.