Predictors of job satisfaction among practicing dentists at hospitals in Suez Canal Area, Egypt

The aim of this study was to measure the level of job satisfaction and the work factors associated with it among practicing dentists in Suez Canal governorates hospitals.

Four hundred forty nine dentists were contacted, and 277 agreed to participate (response rate 61.7%). They were surveyed through a self-administered questionnaire based on items from the Dentist Satisfaction Survey (DSS) questionnaire, which included 29 questions covering items related to the overall satisfaction level and work environment factors; answers were reported on 5 point Likert scale.

The mean score of overall job satisfaction among studied dentists was 3.24 out of 5. As regards work environment factors, the most satisfying aspect was patient relations (3.71) and the least was personal time (2.71). Multiple regression analysis model verified that patient relations, value of income, personal time, staff, and training opportunities accounted for 36% of variation in overall job satisfaction score. The majority of the variance was explained by patient relations.

This study suggests that patient relations, perception of income, personal time, staff, and specialty training are important work environment factors for job satisfaction among the dentists. These findings might help policy makers to design plans to increase the level of job satisfaction among dentists at their workplaces.