Liječnički vjesnik, Vol. 146 No. 5-6, 2024.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.26800/LV-146-5-6-7
Distribution of rheumatologists in Croatia – challenges of centralization and heterogeneity of the rheumatology workforce
Zrinka Biloglav
Ivan Padjen
*
Petar Medaković
Domagoj Andrić
Dominic Vidović
Mario Trošelj
Branimir Anić
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Aim: We aimed to analyze demographic features and the distribution of rheumatologists in Croatia and estimated the rate of rheumatologists at national and county levels. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on the data on practicing rheumatologists obtained from the Croatian Institute of Public Health until September 2022. We analyzed the distribution of rheumatologists according to age, sex, specialist training profile, type of institution (academic vs. non-academic) and location (county). We estimated the rate of
rheumatologists per 100,000 general population. Results: A total of 77 rheumatologists were identified, including physiatrists (54%), internists (34%) and rheumatologists with an internal medicine „common trunk“ (12%). Females were predominant, comprising 70% of all rheumatologists. The mean age was 50 years, with almost a third (32.5%, N=25) exceeding the age of 55. Nearly two thirds (63.64%, N=49) worked in counties with medical
schools (approaching 90% among internists and rheumatologists) and over 50% in tertiary hospitals. Rheumatologists worked in 15/21 (71%) counties, while the estimated rate was 1.99 per 100,000 population. The highest to lowest inter-county ratio was 7 (Primorsko-Goranska vs. Sisak-Moslavina). Conclusions: Rheumatology is a heterogeneous field characterized by a high proportion of females and differences in the profile of specialist
training. The rate per 100,000 population is in line with the European mean, however, differences between counties and regions are pronounced with a clear tendency towards centralization. Estimation of the supply of rheumatology services in the Croatian health system is limited due to lacking informatization of the healthcare system and a lack of possibility to compare well-defined quantitative health service indicators.
Keywords
RHEUMATOLOGISTS – statistics and numerical data, supply and distribution; RHEUMATOLOGY – education, statistics and numerical data; SPECIALIZATION – statistics and numerical data; PHYSICIANS, WOMEN – statistics and numerical data; HEALTH WORKFORCE – statistics and numerical data; AGE DISTRIBUTION; SEX DISTRIBUTION; CROATIA
Hrčak ID:
319963
URI
Publication date:
8.7.2024.
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