Exploring effort–reward imbalance and professional quality of life among health workers in Cape Town, South Africa: a mixed-methods study

Table 5 Psychosocial characteristics by health worker type

Characteristics	Facility-based health workers		P value*	Community-based health workers		P value*	Total		P value*
	Professional (n = 13) Mean (SD)	Lay (n = 13) Mean (SD)		Professional (n = 23) Mean (SD)	Lay (n = 108) Mean (SD)		Professional (n = 36) Mean (SD)	Lay (n = 121) Mean (SD)
Effort-reward imbalance (ERI) scores
Effort	8.38 (1.94)	9.33 (1.61)	0.198	8.35 (1.81)	8.17 (1.91)	0.699	8.36 (1.83)	8.29 (1.91)	0.854
Reward	18.62 (2.28)	17.23 (3.11)	0.280	18.48 (3.60)	17.41 (2.84)	0.124	18.53 (3.44)	17.40 (2.86)	0.048
Esteem	6.62 (1.33)	5.92 (1.38)	0.205	6.26 (1.57)	5.93 (1.36)	0.310	6.39 (1.48)	5.93 (1.36)	0.085
Promotion	7.50 (1.31)	7.36 (1.91)	0.843	8.00 (1.45)	7.70 (1.61)	0.436	7.52 (1.58)	7.67(1.63)	0.632
Security	5.27 (1.19)	4.38 (1.50)	0.128	4.68 (1.59)	4.63 (1.42)	0.875	4.87 (1.47)	4.60 (1.43)	0.329
Overcommitment	14.38 (1.89)	14.08 (2.56)	0.731	14.87 (2.05)	13.94 (2.28)	0.072	14.69 (1.98)	13.95 (2.30)	0.081
Professional quality of life (PROQOL) scores
Compassion satisfaction	44.91 (3.18)	39.07(2.45)	0.050	42.56 (7.56)	41.34 (6.55)	0.488	43.45 (6.29)	41.03(6.90)	0.094
Burnout	21.67 (5.89)	22.09 (5.61)	0.871	20.05 (4.47)	23.26 (4.41)	0.005	20.57 (4.92)	23.12 (4.55)	0.011
Compassion fatigue	21.42 (5.16)	23.36 (4.67)	0.355	22.95 (4.89)	26.51(6.42)	0.021	22.38 (4.97)	26.17 (6.31)	0.002

Characteristics	Facility-based health workers		P value*	Community-based health workers		P value*	Total		P value*
	n (%)	n (%)		n (%)	n (%)		n (%)	n (%)
Effort-reward (ER) ratio based on ERI scores
Low effort–reward imbalance^a	6 (46.2)	1 (7.7)	0.027**	8 (34.8)	35 (32.4)	0.826**	14 (38.9)	36 (29.8)	0.302**
High effort–reward imbalance^b	7 (53.8)	12 (92.3)		15 (65.2)	73 (67.6)		22 (61.1)	85 (70.2)

ISSN: 2397-0642