Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38890630›Full record

ArticleHuman resources for health2024

Physician assistants/associates in psychiatry: a workforce analysis.

Mirela Bruza-Augatis, Andrzej Kozikowski, Roderick S Hooker, Kasey Puckett

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Human resources for health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Mirela Bruza-AugatisNational Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, 12000 Findley Road, Suite 200, Johns Creek, GA, 30097, USA.
Andrzej KozikowskiNational Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, 12000 Findley Road, Suite 200, Johns Creek, GA, 30097, USA.
Roderick S HookerRetired Health Services Research, Ridgefield, WA, USA.
Kasey PuckettNational Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, 12000 Findley Road, Suite 200, Johns Creek, GA, 30097, USA. kaseyk@nccpa.net.ORCID 0000-0002-9722-5008

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPhysician assistants/associates (PAs) provide services in diverse medical specialties globally, including psychiatry. While health professionals in psychiatry have been described for many years, little is known about PAs practicing in this discipline.

methodsWe describe US PAs practicing in psychiatry using robust national data from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Analyses included descriptive and inferential statistics comparing PAs in psychiatry to PAs in all other medical and surgical specialties.

resultsThe percentage of PAs practicing in psychiatry has increased from 1.1% (n = 630) in 2013 to 2.0% (n = 2 262) in 2021. PAs in psychiatry differed from PAs practicing in all other specialties in the following: they identified predominately as female (71.4% vs. 69.1%; p = 0.016), were more racially diverse (Asian [6.6% vs. 6.0%], Black/African American [5.5% vs. 3.4%], multi-race [2.8% vs. 2.1%], and other races [Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, or other; 3.7% vs. 3.6%]; p < 0.001), and resided in the South (43.8% vs. 34.1%; p < 0.001). PAs in psychiatry vs. all other specialties were more likely to work in office-based private practice settings (41.6% vs. 37.3%; p < 0.001) and nearly twice as likely to provide telemedicine services for their patients (62.7% vs. 32.9%; p < 0.001). While one-third (31.9%) of PAs in psychiatry experienced one or more burnout symptoms, and 8.1% considered changing their current position, the vast majority of PAs in psychiatry (86.0%) were satisfied with their position.

conclusionsUnderstanding the attributes of PAs in psychiatry is essential in medical labor supply and demand research. Our findings suggest that the number of PAs working in psychiatry is steadily increasing. These PAs were predominantly female, exhibited greater racial diversity, and were primarily located in the South and Midwest regions of the US. A striking difference was that PAs in psychiatry were almost twice as likely to provide telemedicine services for their patients. Although nearly a third of PAs in psychiatry acknowledged having one or more symptoms of burnout, few were considering changing their employment, and the vast majority reported high job satisfaction.

Indexed as

Physician AssistantsPsychiatryAdultFemaleHealth WorkforceHumansMaleMiddle AgedUnited StatesWorkforceBehavioral healthEmploymentPhysician assistantsPhysician associatesPsychiatryWorkforce

Identifiers

PMID38890630
PMCPMC11186074

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.