Association between hours of work and subjective well-being. How do physicians compare to lawyers and accountants?
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Nunez-Elvira, Alberto
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Analyses of physician well-being typically rely on small and unrepresentative samples. In April 2011, the UK Office for National Statistics incorporated subjective well-being metrics (SWB) into the Annual Population Survey (APS), a well-established survey. This survey includes variables from the labor market, making APS an ideal source for measuring the association between work hours and SWB metrics and comparing among different professionals. Using APS data from 2011/12 to 2014/15, this study examined the association between SWB levels and work hours using multiple linear models for physicians (primary care physicians and hospital doctors), lawyers, and accountants. Of the 11,810 observations, physicians were more satisfied, happier, and less anxious; females were more stressed (10.7%); and age was negatively associated with happiness and satisfaction. Incorporating information on preferences to work more hours (underemployment) did not affect physicians’ but worsened the well-being of other professionals (lawyers and accountants). Surveyed physicians were less anxious, happier, and more satisfied than lawyers or accountants before Covid. Although the total work hours did not alter the SWB metrics, overtime hours for other professionals did. Increasing the working hours of underemployed physicians (with appropriate compensation) could be a relatively inexpensive solution to tackle the shortage of health workers in the short run.
Editor(s)
Poku, Collins Atta
Date Issued
2023-12-15
Date Acceptance
2023-11-30
Citation
PLoS ONE, 2023, 18 (12)
ISSN
1932-6203
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Journal / Book Title
PLoS ONE
Volume
18
Issue
12
Copyright Statement
© 2023 Alberto Nu´ñez-Elvira. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38100435
PII: PONE-D-23-08899
Subjects
AUSTRALIAN DOCTORS
DEPRESSION
IMPACT
JOB-SATISFACTION
LIFE
Multidisciplinary Sciences
OVERTIME
Science & Technology
Science & Technology - Other Topics
STRESS
UK
WOMEN
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Article Number
e0295797
Date Publish Online
2023-12-15