Analysis of the provision of medical personnel in medical organizations providing primary health care in rural areas

Introduction. The health status in the rural population plays a critical role in the development of rural areas, therefore the priority tasks for the development of healthcare are to ensure optimal accessibility of primary health care for the rural population as well as eliminating personnel shortages in medical institutions.

Purpose. To study the main trends in the provision of primary health care by medical personnel in rural areas for the period of 2018–2022.

Materials and methods. We used sanitary-statistical, analytical, and comparative analysis methods. The calculation of indices was based on data from the federal statistical observation form No. 30-village “Information about a medical institution” for the period 2018–2022, information on the size of the rural population according to Rosstat of Russia.

Results. The level of provision of the rural population with doctors providing primary health care in outpatient settings tends to decrease throughout the entire observation period. There is a natural trend towards a decrease in the staffing of full-time positions of doctors providing medical care in outpatient settings with individuals in rural areas and, accordingly, an increase in the part-time ratio. The supply of doctors to the rural population to provide primary health care in federal districts has significant differences. The highest rate of decline was noted in the level of provision of the rural population with general practitioners — the figure decreased by 22.2% in 2022 compared to the level of 2018.

Research limitations. The research materials are limited to the results of the analysis of data from the federal industrial statistical observation form No. 30-village for the Russian Federation and for individual federal districts.

Conclusions. The main trends in providing the rural population of the Russian Federation with doctors providing primary health care on an outpatient basis have been identified. The task of attracting and retaining medical personnel to work in rural areas and developing mobile forms of work for medical organizations continues to remain relevant.

Compliance with ethical standards. This study does not require the conclusion of a biomedical ethics committee or other documents.

Contribution of the authors. All authors made an equal contribution to the search and analytical work and preparation of the article, read and approved the final version before publication.

Acknowledgment. The study had no sponsorship.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare the absence of any conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

 Received: January 24, 2024 / Accepted: October 3, 2024 / Published: December 28, 2024