Development a set of scales to assess job satisfaction among physicians in Peru: validity and reliability assessment

Abstract

Background: To assess the evidences of validity and reliability of a set of scales on different areas of job satisfaction (general professional activity, health services management, and working conditions) in Peruvian physicians based on data from the National Survey of Satisfaction of Users in Health (ENSUSALUD). Method: We carried out a psychometric study based on secondary data analysis. Participants were selected from a two-stage probabilistic national representative sampling stratified by political region. Validity was assessed by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and measurement invariance analysis. Reliability was assessed by internal consistency coefficients (alpha and omega). The set of scales was composed of items related to three different areas of job satisfaction: 1) satisfaction with general professional activity, 2) satisfaction with the health services management, and 3) satisfaction with the working conditions of the health center. Results: We included 2,137 participants in the analysis. General professional activity scale with 6 items (CFI=0.946; RMSEA=0.071; SRMR=0.035) and the health services management scale with 8 items (CFI=0.972; RMSEA=0.081; SRMR=0.028) showed good measurement properties for the one-dimensional model. The scale of working conditions presented adequate measurement properties with a two-dimensional model (CFI=0.914; RMSEA=0.080; SRMR=0.055): individual conditions (8 items) and infrastructural conditions (3 items). The invariance analysis presented that comparisons can be made between sex, age, civil status, medical specialty, working in other institutions, work-related illness, chronic disease, and time working in health care center. All scales had adequate internal consistency (ω and α between 0.70 and 0.90). Conclusions: The set of scales solid factorial structure and measurement invariance, which makes it possible for group comparison. They also achieved stability in their scores as they showed adequate internal consistency coefficients. Based on our findings, these instruments are suitable for measuring job satisfaction among outpatient physicians throughout Peru, as our data is representative at the country level.