Methods: Postal self-complete questionnaire survey of all 581 dentists working in the Malaysian Government Health Service Three-Year Compulsory Programme for dentists wishing to register with the Malaysian Dental Council. Data were collected on EI using the EI Scale (Schutte et al., 1998) and on JS using a modified version of the Dentist Satisfaction Survey scale (Shugars et al., 1991). The outcome variable was intention or not to remain within the Malaysian Government Dental Service.
Results: 322 (58.9%) useable questionnaires were analysed. The Mean EI score was 126.2 (SD 11.9). The highest level of JS was reported for ‘patient relations' (67.1%) and the lowest for ‘perception of income' (40.7%). Total JS score was 56.0%. A total of 179 (52.3%) reported their intention to remain with the Government Dental Service, with the remaining intending to enter private practice or academia.
Univariate logistic regressions show significant effects of EI (OR=1.7; 95% ci 1.1 to 2.6; P=0.01) and JS (OR=1.6; 95% ci 1.1 to 2.5; P=0.02) on career intention. In a multiple regression model, a significant interaction was found (OR=2.6; 95% ci 1.1 to 6.3; P=0.04), indicating that the odds of working with the Government Dental Service were 2.6-fold for those classified as having high emotional intelligence and high job satisfaction. The association of JS with career intention becomes insignificant for those classified as having low EI.
Conclusion: Level of JS varied across the different domains of the Dental Satisfaction Survey scale. JS is associated with career intention to remain with the Malaysian Government Dental Service for those who scored high on the EI scale.
Acknowledgements: B Sabri was in receipt of a scholarship from the Malaysian Government