Efforts to Address the Growing Number of Foreigners Receiving Medical Examinations in Japan

Abstract

Objective: Foreign workers in Japan are expected to play a greater role as the severity of the labor shortage worsens due to the decreasing birthrate and aging population. The number of foreign residents is rising nationwide, and Ehime Prefecture is no exception. As the number of foreigners examined at our center has also been increasing, we sought to consider future challenges by gaining a thorough understanding of the status of such examinations.

Method: We collected data including nationality, sex, age, and examination results for foreigners who received a medical examination at our center between 2015 and 2017. We further administered a questionnaire or made a survey visit to the workplaces of foreigners examined at our center in 2018 and Ehime Prefecture’s Technical Intern Training Supervisory Group concerning problem areas regarding medical examinations and hospital consultations.

Results: The number of medical examinations for foreigners increased each year with 1,781 examinees in 2017, which accounted for 1.3% of all medical examinees. Foreign examinees were primarily from East or Southeast Asia (93.8%); 56.8% were employed in manufacturing. The survey of workplaces found that 63.5% planned to increase the number of foreign employees in the future and requested multilingual resources for medical history forms, test instructions, and examination results in various languages. Many examinees had Limited Japanese Proficiency and were unable to speak English at their examination upon being hired. Examinations were successfully completed using a multilingual translation device or simple Japanese, but interpreting was necessary if there were any important findings.

Conclusion: Immediate strategies necessary to provide services on par with those provided to Japanese individuals for medical interviews, examinations, examination results, and health-related instruction as well as how to coordinate between medical facilities will be essential in handling the continuously increasing number of foreigners in Japan.