Analysis of work willingness and its influencing factors of mental illness prevention and control personnel of grassroots institutions in China: a cross-sectional study

Background In China, there are many studies focusing on the willingness of general practitioners and special medical personnel to work. However, there is a lack of studies on the working willingness of mental illness prevention and control staff. Methods This is a cross-sectional study. In this study we selected mental illness prevention and control personnel in the grassroots health service institutions in Hunan Province, China as our subjects. The chi(2) test and binary logistic regression analysis were used to explore their work willingness and related influencing factors. Results The work willingness of mental illness prevention and control staff of grassroots institutions in China was 55.6% (502/903). The influencing factors were age (odds ratio [OR] 0.753 [95% confidence interval {CI} 0.638 to 0.888]), educational background (OR 1.342 [95% CI 1.092 to 1.648]) and major (OR 1.083 [95% CI 1.009 to 1.162]). Conclusions The work willingness of the mental illness prevention and control staff of grassroots institutions in China was at a low level. The job of preventing and controlling mental illness in grassroots areas needs the competence of workers with strong specialty and professional competence and workers who are willing to work in these communities. Work willingness is the result of multiple factors, especially healthcare investments.