Job preferences of master of public health students in China: a discrete choice experiment.

BACKGROUND: The shortage of public health personnel and the uneven distribution between urban and rural areas are thorny issues in China. Master of public health (MPH) is an integral part of public health human resources in the future, and it is of far-reaching significance to discuss their work preferences. The present study wants to investigate the job preference of MPH, understand the relative importance of different job attributes, and then put forward targeted incentive measures. METHODS: Discrete choice experiment (DCE) was used to evaluate the job preference of MPHs in two medical colleges in Liaoning Province. Attributes include employment location, bianzhi, working environment, career development prospects, work value and monthly income. Thirty-six choice sets were developed using a fractional factorial design. Mixed logit models were used to analysis the DCE data. RESULTS: The final sample comprised 327 MPHs. All the attributes and levels included in the study are statistically significant. Monthly income is the most important factor for MPHs. For non-economic factors, they value career development prospects most, followed by the employment location. Respondents' preferences are heterogeneous and influenced by individual characteristics. Subgroup analysis showed that respondents from different family backgrounds have different job preferences. Policy simulation suggested that respondents were most sensitive to a salary increase, and the combination of several non-economic factors can also achieve the same effect. CONCLUSIONS: Economic factors and non-economic factors significantly affect the job preference of MPHs. To alleviate the shortage and uneven distribution of public health personnel, more effective policy intervention should comprehensively consider the incentive measures of the work itself and pay attention to the individual characteristics and family backgrounds of the target object.

Exploring the reciprocal relationship between activities of daily living disability and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older Chinese people: a four-wave, cross-lagged model.

BACKGROUND: Early studies have shown a relationship between activities of daily living (ADL) disability and depressive symptoms in older people. However, discussions on the direction of this relationship are insufficient. The study's objective was to assess the reciprocal relationship between ADL disability and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older Chinese people. METHOD: Data was collected in four waves of a nationwide survey, the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), which was carried out in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018. In total, this study included 4,124 participants aged ≥ 45 years at baseline. A summing score of the eleven items for basic activities of daily living (BADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) was calculated to indicate the degree of ADL disability. The 10-item Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10) was adopted to measure depressive symptoms. The reciprocal relationship between ADL disability and depressive symptoms was tested by cross-lagged models. RESULT: At baseline, 911 (22.1%) participants were classified as having difficulties with ADL, and the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 34.4% (1,418). Among middle-aged and older people in China, there was a significant reciprocal and longitudinal relationship between ADL disability and depressive symptoms. People who had difficulty with ADL faced a higher risk of depressive symptoms, and those who suffered from depressive symptoms were accompanied by an increase in ADL disability in the following years. The subgroup analysis on age also showed that ADL disability was reciprocally and longitudinally related to depressive symptoms. However, only women showed similar results in the subgroup analysis on gender. CONCLUSION: This study shows that ADL disability is bi-directionally related to depressive symptoms in middle-aged and older Chinese people over time. The results suggest we should identify ADL disability and bad psychological conditions in time to prevent subsequent mutual damage among middle-aged and older Chinese people, a vulnerable group rising in the future.

Impact of alexithymia on suicidal ideation among patients with ovarian cancer: a moderated mediation model of self-perceived burden and general self-efficacy.

PURPOSE: Suicidal ideation (SI) and alexithymia are common psychological problems among patients with cancer. Studying how alexithymia predicts SI is helpful for its intervention and prevention strategies. The present study aimed to investigate whether self-perceived burden (SPB) mediates the impact of alexithymia on SI and if general self-efficacy moderates the associations of alexithymia with SPB and SI. METHODS: To measure SI, alexithymia, SPB, and general self-efficacy, 200 patients with ovarian cancer at all stages regardless of the type of treatment completed the Chinese version of the Self-Rating Idea of Suicide Scale, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Self-Perceived Burden Scale, and General Self-Efficacy Scale in a cross-sectional study. The PROCESS macro for SPSS v4.0 procedure was applied to perform moderated mediation analysis. RESULTS: SPB significantly mediated the positive impact of alexithymia on SI (a×b = 0.082, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.026, 0.157). General self-efficacy significantly moderated the positive association between alexithymia and SPB (ß = -0.227, P < 0.001). The mediating role of SPB was gradually reduced as general self-efficacy grew (low: 0.087, 95% CI: 0.010, 0.190; medium: 0.049, 95% CI: 0.006, 0.108; high: 0.010, 95% CI: -0.014, 0.046). Thus, a moderated mediation model involving SPB and general self-efficacy for explaining how alexithymia causes SI was supported. CONCLUSION: Alexithymia could cause SI by inducing SPB among patients with ovarian cancer. General self-efficacy could attenuate the association between alexithymia and SPB. Interventions aimed at reducing SPB and enhancing general self-efficacy could reduce SI by partially preventing and attenuating the impact of alexithymia.

Mediating role of emotional labour strategy in the association between patient/visitor incivility and nurses' fatigue: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: Fatigue is a common problem among nurses, and patient/visitor incivility is thought to lead to nurses' fatigue. However, the mechanism by which patient/visitor incivility leads to nurses' fatigue has not been well studied. The aim of this study is to examine whether the association between patient/visitor incivility and fatigue among Chinese nurses is mediated by emotional labour strategy. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. METHODS: In November 2019, a stratified cluster sample of 1207 nurses from two hospitals in China was used to collect data on fatigue, patient/visitor incivility and emotional labour strategy through online questionnaires. Emotional labour strategy has three dimensions: surface acting (SA), deep acting and natural acting. Complete responses were provided by 1036 (85.8%) participants. Student's t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation analysis and the PROCESS procedure (A modeling macro installed in SPSS to analyse mediation.) were adopted to analyse the data. RESULTS: Patient/visitor incivility and SA were positively related to fatigue (p<0.01), while natural acting was negatively related to fatigue (p<0.01). SA played as a mediator in the association between patient/visitor incivility and nurses' fatigue (95% CI 0.047 to 0.113, p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Patient/visitor incivility could contribute to Chinese nurses' fatigue. When nurses were exposed to patient/visitor incivility, they were more likely to use the SA emotional labour strategy, which would lead to fatigue. Nursing administrators should be aware of the seriousness of nurses' fatigue.