[Survey on the actual condition of psychiatrists and psychiatric services in Japan. (Part 2): Change in geographical working area and setting of each psychiatrist].
BACKGROUND
The shortage of psychiatrists has recently become a public concern; however, the reason for this shortage has not been clearly discussed or explained on the basis of real data. We assumed that it is not only due to the lack of the absolute number of psychiatrists, but also due to an imbalance in their distribution in geographical working areas and settings.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the change in distribution of Japanese psychiatrists.


METHODS
We analyzed the change in the geographical working area and setting of each psychiatrist from September 2006 to March 2009 using data obtained from psychiatrists who applied for the Board Certification Examination of the Japanese Psychiatric Association. Our data included 6,881 psychiatrists.


RESULTS
With regard to the geographical working area, the number of psychiatrists in ordinance-designated cities (urban areas) increased by 2.2%, whereas that in other areas decreased by 3.0%. On examination of work settings, we noted a 16.0% decrease in the number of psychiatric departments in general hospitals and a 20.0% increase in the number of psychiatric clinics. Surprisingly, more than 10% of middle-aged psychiatrists (10.3% of 36 45-year-olds and 12.2% of 46-55-year olds) who worked in general hospitals moved to clinics.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study revealed that, although psychiatrists did not tend to move from rural to urban areas, they showed a tendency to move from general hospitals to psychiatric clinics.
Center for Clinical Psychopharmacology, Institute of Neuropsychiatry.
Ataru
A
Inagaki
Masafumi
M
Mizuno
Shuichiro
S
Fujiwara
Fusako
F
Enokido
Naohisa
N
Tsujino
Yasushi
Y
Nemoto
Shoko
S
Nozaki
Takuya
T
Kojima
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013038:Specialization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors; D000078329:Workforce; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*