Perceived knowledge infrastructure capability and physicians’ job satisfaction in Chinese maternal and child health hospitals: evidence from Shenzhen
- 1Shenzhen Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital, Women and Children’s Medical Center, Southern Medical University
- 2Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL)
- 3School of Health Management, Southern Medical University
Abstract
Background: In the knowledge economy era, effective knowledge management is crucial for healthcare institutions, especially for maternal and child health institutions (MCHIs) in China—and, in particular, in Shenzhen—that face declining fertility and a rising number of high-risk pregnancies. Improving physicians’ job satisfaction is considered important for care quality and institutional sustainability. This study aimed to examine the association of perceived knowledge infrastructure capability (KIC) with physician job satisfaction in Shenzhen MCHIs.
Methods: This study comprised two components. First, a survey of 1,037 participants from 49 institutions across eastern, central, and western China was conducted to assess the psychometric properties of perceived KIC in the Chinese hospital context, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Cronbach’s α , composite reliability, average variance extracted, and the heterotrait-monotrait ratio. A subsequent cross-sectional survey of physicians from MCHIs in Shenzhen, used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine associations between constructs of perceived KIC and physicians’ intrinsic satisfaction (IS), extrinsic satisfaction (ES), and general satisfaction (GS).
Results: The perceived KIC, comprising two constructs (i.e., knowledge governance mechanisms [KGMs] and Technology), demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity. The SEMs examining the associations between KGMs and IS, ES, and GS all showed acceptable model fit. The KGMs showed significant positive associations with IS (standardized β = 0.727 [95% CI: 0.553–0.901]), ES (standardized β = 0.679 [95% CI: 0.492–0.866]), and GS (standardized β = 0.724 [95% CI: 0.549–0.899]), whereas the Technology did not show statistically significant associations with these three outcomes.
Conclusion: This study examined the association between perceived KIC and physicians’ job satisfaction in Shenzhen MCHIs. KGMs was significantly associated with all three job satisfaction outcomes, whereas Technology was not significantly associated with these outcomes. These findings suggest that strengthening KGMs may offer a practical approach to supporting physician job satisfaction in Shenzhen MCHIs.
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BibTeX
@article{jin2026perceived,
title = {{Perceived knowledge infrastructure capability and physicians’ job satisfaction in Chinese maternal and child health hospitals: evidence from Shenzhen}},
author = {Shuyan Jin and Alexandra Fernandes and Dong Wang},
journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1964250},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1964250/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Perceived knowledge infrastructure capability and physicians’ job satisfaction in Chinese maternal and child health hospitals: evidence from Shenzhen
AU - Shuyan Jin
AU - Alexandra Fernandes
AU - Dong Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1964250
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1964250/full
AB - Background: In the knowledge economy era, effective knowledge management is crucial for healthcare institutions, especially for maternal and child health institutions (MCHIs) in China—and, in particular, in Shenzhen—that face declining fertility and a rising number of high-risk pregnancies. Improving physicians’ job satisfaction is considered important for care quality and institutional sustainability. This study aimed to examine the association of perceived knowledge infrastructure capability (KIC) with physician job satisfaction in Shenzhen MCHIs. Methods: This study comprised two components. First, a survey of 1,037 participants from 49 institutions across eastern, central, and western China was conducted to assess the psychometric properties of perceived KIC in the Chinese hospital context, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), Cronbach’s α , composite reliability, average variance extracted, and the heterotrait-monotrait ratio. A subsequent cross-sectional survey of physicians from MCHIs in Shenzhen, used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine associations between constructs of perceived KIC and physicians’ intrinsic satisfaction (IS), extrinsic satisfaction (ES), and general satisfaction (GS). Results: The perceived KIC, comprising two constructs (i.e., knowledge governance mechanisms [KGMs] and Technology), demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity. The SEMs examining the associations between KGMs and IS, ES, and GS all showed acceptable model fit. The KGMs showed significant positive associations with IS (standardized β = 0.727 [95% CI: 0.553–0.901]), ES (standardized β = 0.679 [95% CI: 0.492–0.866]), and GS (standardized β = 0.724 [95% CI: 0.549–0.899]), whereas the Technology did not show statistically significant associations with these three outcomes. Conclusion: This study examined the association between perceived KIC and physicians’ job satisfaction in Shenzhen MCHIs. KGMs was significantly associated with all three job satisfaction outcomes, whereas Technology was not significantly associated with these outcomes. These findings suggest that strengthening KGMs may offer a practical approach to supporting physician job satisfaction in Shenzhen MCHIs.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -