Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the level of occupational stress, job satisfaction, and turnover intention among Korean field epidemiologists, and to identify the factors that contribute to their turnover intention. We surveyed the Korean field epidemiologists in the cohort from 2016 to 2018 using the Occupational Stress Inventory, revised edition, and questionnaires developed from the Public Health Workforce Interest and Needs Survey. Fisher’s exact test was used to identify the association between sociodemographic characteristics, occupational stress, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. Overall, 17 Korean field epidemiologists participated in this study (response rate: 74%). More than half of field epidemiologists had turnover intention (53%), and it was less likely to be present in the field epidemiologists recruited from the civilian sector than those recruited from the military (adjusted odds ratio, 0.59; 95% confidence interval, 0.39–0.88). Furthermore, about two-thirds of field epidemiologists had a burden of occupational stress on Role Ambiguity (65%), and only one respondent expressed satisfaction with the job. There was no significant relation among the levels of occupational stress, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. In this study, the field epidemiologists recruited from the military were more likely to have turnover intention. Additional studies to identify possible ways to reduce turnover intention among the public health workforce are warranted.
Highlights
A field epidemiologist is a professional who applies the various epidemiologic tools to investigate the unexpected spread of infectious diseases in a time-constrained manner [1]
The current study provides, for the first time, the status of turnover intention and the associative analysis of occupational stress, job satisfaction, and turnover intention among the field epidemiologists in Korea
In an attempt to address this problem, the current study was designed with the aim of identifying the possible contributory factors to the turnover intention in health professionals along with the previously known related factors, such as sex, age, length of employment, level of job demand, occupational stress, and job satisfaction [14,25,26]
Summary
A field epidemiologist is a professional who applies the various epidemiologic tools to investigate the unexpected spread of infectious diseases in a time-constrained manner [1]. In 1999, the Korean FETP began to train the first group of military doctors for the position of field epidemiologist in the two-year full-time curriculum [3,4]. Since 2016, field epidemiologists have been recruited among civilians as well as military doctors for the temporary two-year term position. The primary duties of the field epidemiologist in Korea include investigation of outbreaks, design and operation of the surveillance program in the community, and the conducting of field research to identify risk factors of communicable diseases [5,6,7,8,9,10]. In the case of a communicable disease outbreak, field investigation often begins without a clear hypothesis and requires immediate response to identify the effective measure to control the complicated situation, which requires good communication skills [11]. The role of Korean field epidemiologists in the provincial or metropolitan government, whose affiliations are separated from the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), can be very demanding because they often endure mandatory 24/7 on-call duties, professional isolation from the managerial staff of the department, and limited supervision and management support
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
