2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Access to health services and health disparity

Planned Research

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Project Area	Elucidation of social stratification mechanism and control over health inequality in contemporary Japan: New interdisciplinary area of social and health sciences
Project/Area Number	21119006
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Review Section	Complex systems
Research Institution	The University of Tokyo
Principal Investigator	KOBAYASHI Yasuki 東京大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (70178341)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	TANIHARA Shin-ichi 福岡大学, 医学部, 准教授 (40285771) OHMORI Masahiro お茶の水女子大学, 大学院人間文化創成科学研究科, 准教授 (40286000) INADA Haruhiko 筑波大学, 医学医療系, 助教 (60633146)
Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha)	TOYOKAWA Satoshi 東京大学, 大学院医学系研究科, 准教授 (40345046) INOUE Mariko 帝京大学, 公衆衛生学研究科, 講師 (20508048)
Project Period (FY)	2009-04-01 – 2015-03-31
Keywords	保健 / 医療 / アクセス / 健康格差 / 医療保障制度 / 医師分布 / 災害
Outline of Final Research Achievements	This study aims to examine the current conditions of access to health service and health status among people, using various surveys and existing data. Using the Population Census and the Survey of Physicians, Dentists, and Pharmacists in Japan, we showed that dentist distribution was improved for these 20 years while that physician distribution was not much improved. In addition, the ratios of physicians to population in small rural secondary tier of medical care increased because of decreases in the population and not because of an increase of physicians. Using the data of the Japanese Study of Stratification, Health, Income, and Neighborhood (J-SHINE), we showed that precarious work was associated with lower access to preventive and ambulatory services, and suggested pro-rich inequality in general residents, in which high income group had better access to dental service. We also reported various aspects of the access issues in the policy context.
Free Research Field	公衆衛生学