1.Work-related Quality of Life and Its Associated Factors Among House Officers Working at Two Hospitals in Selangor
Nadia Abd Gaffar ; Zaliha Ismail ; Hasidah Abdul-Hamid ; Suraya Abdul-Razak
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2021;17(No.2):137-145
Introduction: Mental health-related problems are on the rise among medical doctors, with many house officers
(HOs) have quitted training prematurely owing to work and life-related factors. However, the quality of work-life
(QOWL) among Malaysian HOs remains unknown. Hence, we aimed to determine the mean score of QOWL and
its predictors among HOs working at two tertiary hospitals. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted at
two tertiary hospitals in Selangor, between May and August 2019. A stratified random sampling was employed. The
Malay version of work-related quality of life scale (M-WRQLS-2) and the patient health questionnaire (M-PHQ-9)
were used for data collection. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS version 23.0 (IBM, Chicago, IL). Results: A total of 260 (72.9%) respondents completed the questionnaires. The overall score of QOWL was 3.05 ± 0.48
(95% CI: 2.99, 3.11). Depressed HOs had a significantly lower mean score across all subscales (p < 0.005) except for
the stress at work (SAW) subscale. Two predictors were inversely associated with QOWL. These were the M-PHQ-9
score [β= -0.049,95% CI: -0.06, -0.04] and being female [β=-0.129,95% CI: -0.24, -0.02]. Conclusion: HOs who
worked at the two hospitals in Selangor perceived their overall QOWL as average. However, being female and
having depression were found to be associated with lower QOWL. Therefore, early interventions targeting female
HOs and those with depressive symptoms are warranted. Further research and strategies aiming to improve the overall quality of work-life and its dimensions for HOs during housemanship training are vital.