1.Family Physicians’ satisfaction with factors affecting the dynamism of the urban family physician program in the Fars and Mazandaran provinces of Iran
Seiyed Davoud Nasrollahpour Shirvani ; Mohammad Javad Kabir ; Zahra Hassanzadeh-Rostami ; Hasan Ashrafian Amir ; Anahita Keshavarzi ; Soheila Hosseini
Malaysian Family Physician 2019;14(3):28-36
Background and objective: A successful family physician program needs ongoing and full cooperation
between people and the organizations in charge. Ensuring the satisfaction of family physicians through
improvement of the underlying factors could motivate them to provide high-quality services. This study
aimed to determine the family physicians’ satisfaction level with the factors affecting the dynamism of
the urban family physicians program in the Fars and Mazandaran provinces of Iran.
Method: This cross-sectional study was carried out in urban areas in the Fars and Mazandaran
provinces in 2016. The sample consisted of 143 and 96 family physicians, respectively, in Fars and
Mazandaran provinces and was selected using the stratified random sampling method. Data were
collected using a questionnaire and included both sociodemographic variables and factors assessing the family physicians’ satisfaction levels. Each factor was scored based on a Likert scale from 0 to 5 points, and any satisfaction level higher than 3 out of 5 was equated with being satisfied.
Results: The overall satisfaction levels among family physicians in Fars and Mazandaran provinces were 2.77±0.53 and 3.37±0.56, respectively, revealing a statistically significant difference between provinces (p<0.001). Moreover, the mean satisfaction scores for the performances of healthcare centers, insurance companies, specialists, healthcare workers, and the population covered were 2.78±0.1, 2.54±0.9, 2.52±0.8, 4.24±0.07, and 2.96±0.8, respectively. The family physicians’ levels of satisfaction were significantly correlated with population size (p=0.02, r= -0.106), and willingness to stay in an urban family physician program (p<0.001, r= +0.398).
Conclusion: This study revealed that family physicians exhibited a low level of satisfaction with the
urban family physician program. Given the direct association between family physicians’ satisfaction
levels and retention in the program, it is expected that family physicians will no longer stay in the
program, and it is likely to have subsequent executive problems.