Division of Disease Control and Epidemiology, School of Dentistry, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Hokkaido 061-0293, Japan.
Department of Health Promotion, National Institute of Public Health, Wako 351-0197, Japan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jan 24;18(3):1025. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18031025.
The super-aged society of Japan is experiencing an increased demand for dental hygienists, of which there is currently a shortage. This study aimed to investigate the factors related to the working status of dental hygienists in Japan. We conducted a survey by mailing a questionnaire on employment to 1444 dental hygienists and obtained 537 valid responses. We conducted a bivariate analysis using either a chi-square test or -test as well as a multiple logistic regression analysis to determine the factors related to working status. The overall employment rate was 68.2%, with a significant difference between age groups ( < 0.01). Approximately 80% of respondents considered working hours and human relations at the workplace to be important, and more than 70% of respondents considered wages as important. Finally, the following four variables were found to be significantly associated with employment status: training course attendance, a desire to work full-time, consideration of wages as important, and consideration of working hours as important. These findings suggest that it is necessary to improve working conditions and environments, including wages and working hours, as well as provide a more robust system of continued professional development for dental hygienists to increase the workforce.
日本已经进入超老龄社会，对牙科保健师的需求不断增加，但目前此类人才十分短缺。本研究旨在探讨与日本牙科保健师工作状况相关的因素。我们通过邮寄问卷的方式对 1444 名牙科保健师进行了调查，共获得 537 份有效回复。我们采用卡方检验或 t 检验进行了单变量分析，并进行了多变量逻辑回归分析，以确定与工作状况相关的因素。总体就业率为 68.2%，不同年龄组之间存在显著差异（<0.01）。约 80%的受访者认为工作时间和职场人际关系很重要，超过 70%的受访者认为工资很重要。最后，有四个变量与就业状况显著相关：参加培训课程、希望全职工作、认为工资很重要以及认为工作时间很重要。这些发现表明，有必要改善工作条件和环境，包括工资和工作时间，并为牙科保健师提供更完善的继续教育体系，以增加劳动力。
