Current status of interprofessional competency among healthcare professions in Japan: A cross-sectional web-based survey

Background: Self-assessment of professionals' interprofessional competency is meaningful for benchmarking oneself and helping to identify training needs. We aimed to clarify differences in self-assessment of interprofessional competency in Japan by profession and type of facility. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using a web survey among primary healthcare providers in Japan, especially members of the Japan Primary Care Association, between June and October 2020. After sampling using the e-mail list, we used an exponential nondiscriminative snowball method as purposive sampling through key professional informants between November 2020 and February 2021. The questionnaire covered items including participant demographics (age, gender, years of experience as professionals, years of experience working at the current institution, attendance type (regular or part-time work), administrative experience, profession, and facility type) and included the Japanese version of the Self-assessment Scale of Interprofessional Competency (JASSIC). Differences between healthcare professions (physician, nurse, pharmacist, rehabilitation therapist, and social worker) and between types of facility (university hospital, medium-sized hospital, small hospital, and clinics) were compared using the Kruskal–Wallis test. Results: A total of 593 people responded to the survey. Their mean age was 41.2 ± 11.3 years, and 312 (52.6%) were female. JASSIC scores of physicians and social workers were significantly higher than those of rehabilitation therapists (p < 0.01). Concerning facilities, professionals working in clinics rated themselves higher than those in medium-sized hospitals (p < 0.01). Conclusions: We revealed that self-assessment of interprofessional competency in Japan varied by profession and type of facility.