Summary of Research Findings

This mailed questionnaire survey was performed from February to March 2021 to the nationwide medical institutions that have their rehabilitation medicine, and was responded back by 150 institutions.

According to “Dynamic Survey of Medical Institutions” by MHLW in 2019, number of general hospitals was on the decline, but those hospitals practicing rehabilitation medicine were slightly increasing, indicating how the rehabilitation market was drawing attention. Among 150 institutions that responded back to the questionnaire, 24 institutions (16.0%) had their names with “rehabilitation” on to explicitly express what they specialized in, while other 126 institutions (84.0%) had their sections of rehabilitation medicine in respective general hospitals.

When asked about the rehabilitation wards, it was found out that acute-phase rehabilitation medicine was the most popular, as the wards for it were established at 92 (61.3%) of the 150 institutions, followed by convalescent rehabilitation wards at 62 institutions (41.3%), and the next largest number of wards were maintenance-phase rehabilitation wards at 47 institutions (31.3%). On the other hand those institutions equipped with psychiatric rehabilitation ward were 21 (14.0%) and those with palliative care rehabilitation ward were only 10 (6.7%), indicating distinct difference in the number of wards between the top 3 and the bottom 2 medicine sections. 

Noteworthy Topics

Status of Obtaining Qualification for Rehabilitation Facilities

When asked about qualification acquisition of rehabilitation facilities by medicine section to the 150 institutions, 140 institutions (93.3%) were qualified to practice “musculoskeletal rehabilitation section (I)” the largest number, followed by 122 institutions (81.3%) qualified for “cerebral vascular rehabilitation section (I)” and 119 institutions (79.3%) for “rehabilitation of disuse syndromes (I).”

When observing the combinations of qualification by medicine section, 52 institutions (34.7%), the largest number, were qualified to practice all the rehabilitation medicine (I) sections, i.e. cerebral vascular, musculoskeletal, disuse syndromes, cardiovascular, and respiratory, followed by 39 institutions (26.0%) qualified for all the rehabilitation (I) sections except for cardiovascular, i.e. cerebral vascular, musculoskeletal, disuse syndromes, and respiratory, followed by 22 institutions (14.7%) qualified for those rehabilitation (I) sections of cerebral vascular, musculoskeletal, and disuse syndromes.

Research Outline