July 23, 2024Open Access

Psychological Distress and Associated Factors among Technical Intern Trainees in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Puntos clave

Psychological distress levels were notably high, with 26.3% experiencing moderate distress and 2.3% severe distress.
Key association findings show female gender and non-Vietnamese nationality linked to increased distress levels; both AOR values exceed 2.00.
Study utilized a multivariate model, specifically logistic regression, to identify variables contributing to psychological distress in trainees across Japan from August to October 2021, involving 304 participants in total; program implemented from 1993 on foreign interns supports this analysis' significance across the population's experience today—knowledge of the healthcare system was identified as an impediment to care-seeking behavior, affecting wellbeing negatively.

Resumen

Japan is experiencing significant demographic shifts due to an aging and declining population. In 1993, the Japanese Government introduced the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) to accept foreign national workers. While the number of technical intern trainees under this program has constantly increased, many of them face challenges in their daily lives, such as stress, health insecurities and limited access to healthcare. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the mental well-being of technical intern trainees, focusing on psychological distress and its related factors. This study included 304 technical intern trainees from 12 prefectures in Japan, and was conducted from August 2021 to October 2021. We used self-administered questionnaires in the participants' native languages to assess their sociodemographic conditions, health-related conditions such as health insecurities and healthcare-seeking behaviors, and psychological distress. The K6 Kessler Psychological Distress Scale was applied to evaluate the levels of psychological distress. Among the participants, 26.3% had moderate psychological distress and 2.3% had severe psychological distress. In addition, about 15% of the participants reported health insecurities and did not see a doctor despite wanting to. The multivariate model of logistic regression revealed significant associations between psychological distress and female gender (AOR 2.62, 95% CI 1.12-6.12), nationality other than Vietnamese (AOR 4.85, 95% CI 2.60-9.07), tough financial conditions (AOR 2.23, 95% CI 1.18-4.19), experiencing health insecurity (AOR 2.21, 95% CI 1.04-4.66) and the health behavior of refraining from seeking medical care (AOR 3.06, 95% CI 1.49-6.30). The top reasons for refraining from seeking medical care were the participants' limited knowledge about the healthcare system in Japan and their worries about medical bills. These findings highlight the necessity to extend mental health support services, including counseling services, and share information about Japan's healthcare system to supply medical services to the targeted technical intern trainee population.

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