Life satisfaction and correlates among working women of a tertiary care health sector: A cross-sectional study from Delhi, India

Abstract

Background: The dual role of women at home and workplace negatively impacts their quality of life. The health-care system demands quality services and urbanization and globalization have increased the demands of every individual to lead a satisfactory life. Objective: The aim of this study is to find the correlates of life satisfaction (LS) among working women of the health sector. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among female staff in the campus of a tertiary care center of New Delhi for 6 months (2011–2012). A sample of 345 women was selected with equal representation from all the departments of the institution. All participants were asked to complete modified pretested semi-structured LS scale by Alam and Srivastava. Results: The prevalence of overall satisfaction among working females in our study was 39.3%. Females were highly satisfied with their job, but satisfaction level in health and the economic domain was low. Age, type of occupation, mode of transport, family type, and income as compared to the husband's income were the significant correlates of satisfaction level in different domains. Conclusions: Satisfaction among workers that to females in the health sector is proportional to job profile which comes at the cost of their personal needs. These tentative conclusions demand further investigations determining causality of the observed associations. It is high time to make our workplace environment worker-friendly to increase the output.