Background: Physician shortage affects mortality at the city level in Japan. The medical administrative district (MAD) covering the area (town, city, etc.) in which the patients live and is the unit responsible for recruiting doctors. The number of physicians or changes in this number in each MAD varies. The relationship between the number, or the change in number, of physicians and the mortality in each MAD has been unclear.
Methods: We designed a descriptive study using publicly-available national statistics. In all 358 MADs in Japan, we analyzed the relationship between the changes in the number of physicians (total, clinic, and hospital) from 2000 to 2005 and the standardized mortality ratio (all causes of death, cancer, heart disease, and stroke).
Results: In MADs, the number of physicians and mortality are not related, nor are changes in number of physicians and mortality. Further investigation including factors associated with mortality is needed.
Conclusion: In MAD, there is no relationship between the number of physician and the mortality, between the change in number of physician and the mortality. Further investigation is needed including factors associated with mortality.