Quality of Life of Academic Dentists’ Families; a Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background and objectives: Quality of the social life of dentists has not been given much attention in literature. Further, the quality of dental academics' families has never been investigated before. The aim of this study is to assess some aspects of the quality of life among academic dentists' families and to investigate the factors that may influence their quality of life.Methods: This study was based on an online questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed of two parts; the first part was directed to academic and non-academic dentists asking them about relevant demographic/professional data, and the second part was directed to their family members asking them about social, cultural, financial and health-related issues. Data were analyzed to obtain descriptive statistics and determine significance of association of different variables.Findings: A total of 125 dentists (academics=37, non-academics=88) participated in the survey together with their family members. Most of the social aspects were satisfactorily prevailing in families of both groups, however, statistically significant differences were found in some financial aspects indicating that non-academics' families live a more well-off life style. Conclusions:Families of academic and non-academic dentists showed comparable quality of life, however, they were affected by similar trends affecting families nowadays like long hours of internet usage, obesity, and waterpipe smoking, the latter was exclusively found in non-academic dentists' families.

Women in Maxillofacial Surgery and Otolaryngology; Career Obstacles and Success Factors

“…Most participants did not consider personal/social factors like marriage and children as obstacles to their career indicating the supportive role that their families have, and the accommodating/ cooperative role that society has for working women particularly those in the medical and dental profession. Indeed, dentists were shown in previous studies to assume attentive and caring role for their children 21 . On the other hand, work-related factors like lack of mentors and long hours were cited by the majority of participants to be obstacles in their career confirming the previous finding that family- and society- related issues are not considered as obstacles, but perhaps are looked upon by participants as factors for success.…”

“…Indeed, dentists were shown in previous studies to assume attentive and caring role for their children. 21 On the other hand, work-related factors like lack of mentors and long hours were cited by the majority of participants to be obstacles in their career confirming the previous finding that family-and society-related issues are not considered as obstacles, but perhaps are looked upon by participants as factors for success. ''Lack of mentors'' was considered a limitation to career development in academic surgery.…”

Career Satisfaction among Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists: A study from Jordan

“…All these factors expectedly provide socioeconomic stability and emotional support for those with challenging careers. Work-family balance was reported to enhance career satisfaction and the perception of life satisfaction [18]. Another explanation could relate to the fact that married personnel who have children are older with more years of practice and experience making them more settled in their careers and having more stable jobs.…”