RESUMO
BACKGROUND: A comparison of the job satisfaction of health care professionals has not been well studied in Malaysia. This study aimed to compare the job satisfaction level among 8 groups of health care professionals in private settings, using the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS). METHODS: A total of 81 health care professionals, including nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, medical laboratory technologists, dieticians, medical imaging practitioners, environmental health officers, and optometrists in private (non-government) settings in the Klang Valley, were interviewed using the Job Satisfaction Survey scale invented by Dr Paul E Spector. Their job satisfaction scores were calculated and determined. RESULTS: In the demographic data, the majority of the subjects were 20-30 years old (81.5%), were female (72.8%), had a basic degree (98.8%), were single (64.2%), and had 1-5 years of working experience (83.9%). A Kruskal-Wallis analysis showed significant differences (P < 0.05) in promotion, supervision, operating conditions, co-workers, nature of the work, and communication, but there were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in pay, fringe benefits, and contingent rewards in JSS score among the 8 health care professions. The Friedman Test showed a significant difference of overall JSS scores (χ(2) = 526.418, P < 0.001) among the 8 health care professions. CONCLUSION: The overall job satisfaction levels are different among health care professionals in private settings, especially regarding promotion, supervision, operating conditions, co-workers, the nature of the work, and communication.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The epidemiological study of vision problems is important for developing national strategies for the prevention of visual impairment. There was a lack of information regarding vision problems among school children in East Malaysia. The purpose of this study was to compare the refractive errors and degrees of visual impairment between Native Iban and Malay school children who participated in a formal government vision loss prevention programme conducted in a rural area of Betong Division, Malaysia. METHODS: In total, 293 Native Iban and Malay school children (Standard 1, Standard 6, and Form 3) received refractive assessments by an optometrist after failing tests in the formal government school vision screening programme in 2008. A criterion for referral was a visual acuity of 6/9 or worse in either eye. Assessments of the refractive errors of the children were performed using dry retinoscopy and subjective refraction techniques at community clinics. RESULTS: The overall prevalences of refractive error and visual impairment among the sampled populations were 47.7% and 3.5%, respectively. Approximately 97.1% of reported cases were myopia. The Malay sample population was found to be more myopic than the Native Iban population (U = 8240.50, P < 0.05, r = 0.14), but no significant association was found between myopia and ethnicity (χ(2) = 2.66, P > 0.05). Both Native Iban and Malay children in education levels higher than Standard 1 were more likely to have myopia (P < 0.05). Myopia was found to be more likely to affect females than males at a statistically significant level among Native Iban children (χ(2) [1.N = 170] = 6.279, P < 0.05, odds ratio = 2.327, 95% CI = 1.184-4.575). There was no statistically significant association between visual impairment and ethnicity (χ(2) = 1.60, P > 0.05). Approximately 94.1% of children with refractive errors suffered from having either the wrong prescription (7.8%) or having uncorrected refractive errors (92.2%). CONCLUSION: The Native Iban population was found to be less myopic than the Malay population despite having a similar frequency of myopia. The proportion of children with myopia increased with the level of education in both ethnicities. A high percentage of untreated refractive error problems among Native Iban and Malay children in the Betong Division indicates that there is a need for government intervention for the purpose of economic and healthcare improvements.
