Key issues in Japan's public health centers to prepare for future pandemics: a text mining study using a topic model.

BACKGROUND: In Japan, over 450 public health centers played a central role in the operation of the local public health system in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to identify key issues for improving the system for public health centers for future pandemics. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire. The respondents were first line workers in public health centers or local governments during the pandemic. We solicited open-ended responses concerning improvements needed for future pandemics. Issues were identified from these descriptions using morphological analysis and a topic model with KHcoder3.0. The number of topics was estimated using Perplexity as a measure, and Latent Dirichlet Allocation for meaning identification. RESULTS: We received open-ended responses from 784 (48.6%) of the 1,612 survey respondents, which included 111 physicians, 330 nurses, and 172 administrative staff. Morphological analysis processed these descriptions into 36,632 words. The topic model summarized them into eight issues: 1) establishment of a crisis management system, 2) division of functions among public health centers, prefectures, and medical institutions, 3) clear role distribution in public health center staff, 4) training of specialists, 5) information sharing system (information about infectious diseases and government policies), 6) response to excessive workload (support from other local governments, cooperation within public health centers, and outsourcing), 7) streamlining operations, and 8) balance with regular duties. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified key issues that need to be addressed to prepare Japan's public health centers for future pandemics. These findings are vital for discussions aimed at strengthening the public health system based on experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic.

[Relationship between the number of public health nurses and the total number of people receiving home-visit nursing services for mental health/intractable diseases, and those numbers' regional differences].

Objectives　The primary aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between the number of public health nurses (PHNs) and the total number of people who received home-visit nursing services for mental health or intractable diseases. The secondary aim was to clarify the extent of regional differences in the number of PNHs and mental health or intractable diseases.Methods　This study used the total number of people who received home-visit nursing services for mental health or intractable diseases in 2019 from the Portal Site of Official Statistics of Japan (e-Stat) and population and area data in January 2020. Single and multiple regression analyses (covariates: population and area) were performed on the relationship between the number of PHNs per 100,000 population (abbreviated as "ratios of PHNs") and the total number of people who received home-visit nursing services for mental health or intractable diseases per 100,000 population (abbreviated as "mental health/intractable disease achievements"). Regional differences in ratios of PHNs and mental health/intractable disease achievement were examined using mean, standard deviation, maximum/minimum values, and Gini coefficients. Analyses were performed for each of the five units: the prefectures as a whole, prefectural public health centers, municipalities within the jurisdiction of prefectural public health centers, and cities in which public health centers are established (including or not including special wards).Results　Regression analyses indicated a positive relationship between the ratios of PHNs and mental health/intractable disease achievements. Multiple regression analysis indicated that both achievements were positively associated with population size and negatively associated with area size. The largest regression coefficients between the ratios of PHNs and achievements were 34.07 and 5.48 regarding mental health achievements and intractable disease achievements, respectively. For regional differences, the smallest Gini coefficient was the ratios of PHNs, and the largest was intractable disease achievements. The smallest and largest coefficient of the prefectures as a whole was 0.15 and 0.34, respectively. The maximum/minimum values of the prefectures as a whole also indicated that the smallest was 3.8 in the ratio of PHNs and the largest was 30.0 in intractable disease achievement.Conclusions　Increasing number of PHNs is needed to provide more home-visit nursing services for mental health and intractable diseases. It is particularly important to fill up the larger number of PHNs in smaller populations or larger area prefectures. Due to regional differences in the home-visit nursing service, it is important to promote the increase in the level of these activities.