Factors associated with quiet quitting among public health specialists in Türkiye: a cross-sectional study

Quiet quitting, a passive disengagement involving minimal work effort, has surged post-pandemic amid workloads, burnout, and undervaluation, particularly in healthcare. Despite their critical role in health management, public health specialists in Türkiye often face role ambiguity and limited administrative authority, potentially fostering 'quiet quitting'-a state of passive disengagement. The aim of this study is to evaluate quiet quitting attitudes and identify associated factors among public health specialists in Türkiye.

A cross-sectional online study was conducted from August 1 to September 30, 2024, targeting 601 Ministry of Health public health specialists. A simple random sample of eligible public health specialists was invited to participate in an online survey, and 241 completed a questionnaire comprising a Personal Information Form (sociodemographics, work characteristics, satisfaction) and the Quiet Quitting Attitude Scale (QQAS). The questionnaire was pilot-tested, and informed consent was obtained. Chi-square, Student's t, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, post-hoc analyses, Logistic and linear regression were applied in the evaluation of the data.

Of the participants, 18.2% viewed the future of public health in Türkiye as very hopeful or hopeful, 34.5% considered changing their specialty, 38.2% wanted a transfer from their current province, and 27.8% considered resigning. In the logistic regression model (QQAS ≥ 103), being aged 40 years or older, absence of an administrative position (OR = 6.73, 95% CI: 3.20-14.16), perceiving specialty training as incompatible with the field, a hopeless outlook on the specialty's future (OR = 9.56, 95% CI: 3.17-28.82), and desires for transfer and resignation were independently associated with higher quiet quitting attitudes. In the linear regression model, the same factors were significant, with the addition of 4-6 years of specialist experience and dissatisfaction with the public health specialty. Marital status, presence of psychiatric illness, and total medical experience were significant in univariate analyses but did not retain independent associations in the multivariate models.

Quiet quitting attitudes among public health specialists were associated with professional hopelessness and role-education mismatch. These findings suggest that targeted institutional efforts to better align job descriptions with specialist training and to improve career outlooks may help sustain workforce engagement.