A Study on Actual Situation of Community Industrial Physicians for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Their Involvement in Community Occupational Health Services

Abstract

The subjects of this study were 405 Japan Medical Association authorized industrial physicians, Community Industrial Physicians (CIPs), who belonged to the Shinjuku, Nakano, and Suginami Words' regional medical associations in the jurisdiction of the Shinjuku Labor Standards Inspection Office. Between November and December, 2003, the CIPs were mailed a questionnaire requesting information about their affiliations and activities, and as indicators of their willingness to participate in Community Occupational Health Services, they were asked about the pros and cons of having their names published as Industrial Physicians, and/or practitioners for Regional Occupational Health Centers, or Regular Health Checks. 152 replies were received, effective response rate of 37.5%, and among these 94 replies were from CIPs who work as part-time industrial physician. Overall, CIPs attend Community Occupational Health Services (COHS) voluntarily, and wish to participate in them more in the future. CIPs who work as part-time industrial physician have knowledge of working safety and hygiene and are providing advice and guidance on working conditions and environments. Also, they are well informed about support services for small and medium-sized enterprises which is thought to be connected with their willingness to participate in COHS. Furthermore, it is important that part-time CIPs activities are appreciated by their respective place of work.

Surveys on minimum practical abilities required by nonspecialist occupational physicians in Japan

“…The questionnaires were seven pages long and the volume of questions might have contributed to the reduced response rates. However, the response rates were equivalent with, or higher than, previous surveys on similar subjects 17 , 24) .…”

Activities of occupational physicians for occupational health services in small-scale enterprises in Japan and in the Netherlands

“…When a questionnaires survey on OPs’ activities in SSEs was conducted, Terada et al (2005) succeeded to obtain a higher response from OPs at 37.5% that was achieved when the survey was conducted in cooperation with medical associations in the regions. Muto et al (1997) reported a similarly high response rate of 37.9% in a questionnaire survey on the methods to persuade high management to support OHS, but the respondents included non-MDs (such as occupational nurses and safety and health supervisors) and OPs accounted for 37%.…”

Activities of Private Clinic- or Hospital-Based Occupational Physicians in Japan

“…Low participation rates (38.6-46.7%) of physicians in OHS despite acquisition of certification as OPs have also been reported for other prefectures [20][21][22][23] . Terada et al 17) observed that only 94 (23%) physicians were active out of 405 private clinic-or hospital-based physicians who had registered as OPs in a labour standard inspection office in central Tokyo. The number of OPs registered by the Kyoto Medical Association as certified OPs represent 1,448 members of the Association 8) .…”

“…Reports on the activities and job satisfaction of OPs have been published by several research groups [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] as well as by a number of regional occupational health promotion centers [20][21][22][23] . Nevertheless, there are no currently available reports on the difficulties experienced by private clinic-or hospital-based part-time OPs in their daily OHS or that evaluate the time spent by OPs in various OHS activities.…”