Distribution of cardiology specialists by counties in the Republic of Croatia

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading public health problem in Croatia and the world. Population aging increases the burden of the disease, and the dynamics of supply and demand for cardiac services, along with the aging population, is determined by several factors. The aim of this research was to analyse human resources in cardiology based on selected indicators that include the number, age, and rates of cardiologists at the national and county levels. The number of cardiologists was obtained from the National Register of Health Care Providers at the Croatian Institute of Public Health for 2020. Other data were obtained from the Institute, the Central Bureau of Statistics, and the Croatian Chamber of Economy. In 2020, there were 334 cardiologists in Croatia, 291 in the public sector, of which 123 (42.26%) were women, and 168 (57.73%) were men. The private sector employed 43 cardiologists, 13 (30.23%) women, and 30 (69.76%) men. In half of the counties, more than 50% of specialists were older than 50 years. In the private sector, cardiologists were significantly older, 55 vs. 46 years (p < 0.001). The average rate of cardiologists in the public sector was 60 per million inhabitants, and a total of 69 in the public and private sectors. Counties with a higher index of economic strength have more cardiologists, but the differences are not significant. Counties with four major cities and medical schools, Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, and Osijek have almost twice the average rates of cardiologists per million inhabitants than other counties. The average share of women in both sectors is 40.72%, but counties with large cities and medical schools have slightly an above average percentage of women cardiologists – 41.87%. This research presented certain specifics of human resources in cardiology in Croatia such as unequal distribution of cardiologist rates at the county level, differences by age and gender in the public and private sectors