The Short-Term Impacts of Japan's 2024 Physician Working-Hour Limits on Labor Conditions, Self-Directed Professional...

To examine the short-term impacts of Japan's newly implemented physician working-hour limits (April 2024) on working conditions, self-directed professional development (SDPD), defined as activities undertaken outside working hours to enhance one's professional skills, and work-related happiness among obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYNs).

An online survey was conducted between July 8 and July 31, 2024, targeting 867 Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology members. Five hundred and fourteen full-time practitioners who had not changed workplaces around April 2024 and had no missing data were analyzed. Participants were stratified by regulation levels (A, B, C, discretionary labor system, those who don't know their own level), and their working hours, anticipated income, SDPD satisfaction, and happiness (0-10 scale) were assessed. We used multivariate linear regression to evaluate the influence of labor condition changes on happiness and explored interactions involving unpaid overtime, income changes, and SDPD satisfaction.

Compared with level A (up to 960 h of overtime per year), participants at levels B and C (up to 1860 h of overtime per year) reported significantly lower happiness (p < 0.001). Most respondents observed no major shifts in working conditions since March 2024, yet about 40% did not record SDPD hours that meet the working hour requirement as official work time. Adjusted analyses revealed that decreased income and unsatisfactory SDPD significantly lowered happiness, whereas higher SDPD satisfaction increased it (β: -0.64 [-1.07, -0.21], -0.98 [-1.46, -0.50], and 0.90 [0.44, 1.35], respectively). Subgroup analysis indicated that rising unpaid overtime further reduced happiness among those dissatisfied with SDPD (-1.43 [-2.41, -0.45]).

The new working-hour limits had minimal impact on labor conditions in the short run. However, satisfaction with SDPD was positively associated with happiness, whereas anticipated decreases in income were correlated with lower happiness.