Physicians’ job satisfaction with the More Doctors Program in the State of Paraíba, Brazil: assessment with structural equation modeling

This study aimed to build a job quality assessment model for the More Doctors Program (PMM, in Portuguese) based on participating physicians’ job satisfaction, using structural equation modeling. The assessment drew on a database with answers to a questionnaire developed by a group of the program’s supervisors in the State of Paraíba, Brazil, and applied to physicians between December 2015 and September 2016. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to extract significant attributes and form final dimensions, and later confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the relationship between variables. The initially proposed satisfaction model underwent some changes based on the analyses, and the final model consisted of 49 variables grouped in 6 dimensions: medications, structure, characteristics of the program, support, printed materials, and equipment. Medications and structure were the constructs with the greatest effect on physician satisfaction (0.53 and 0.39), followed by program characteristics and support (both with 0.29). The instrument proposed in this article should allow a comprehensive view of aspects involved in physicians’ job satisfaction, providing a point of departure for future analyses and validations on job quality in primary care.