Summary of Research Findings

Against the background of aging society, rehabilitation services are drawing attention as a way of treating patients recovering from various types of medical conditions (to support for social rehabilitation). For this survey, a mailed questionnaire survey was performed from February to March 2023 to the nationwide medical institutions that have their rehabilitation medicine, and 179 institutions responded.

When asked about the types of rehabilitation wards they currently have in place, 143 institutions (79.9% of respondents) said they are equipped with “acute care rehabilitation ward”. The next largest number of wards are “community-based integrated care ward” at 78 institutions (43.6%), followed by “convalescent rehabilitation ward (CRW)” at 67 institutions (37.4%). Meanwhile, as seen in the number of “psychiatric rehabilitation ward” and “palliative care rehabilitation ward” (21 institutions [7.3%] and 18 institutions [10.7%], respectively), the result indicates a considerable gap in the number of wards between the top two types and the bottom two types.

It was also found out that, based on the qualification acquisition of rehabilitation facilities by medicine section, 93.9% of respondents (168 institutions) were qualified to practice “musculoskeletal rehabilitation (I)”. The second common qualification is “pulmonary rehabilitation (I)” at 77.7% (139 institutions), followed by “cerebrovascular rehabilitation (I)”, 77.1% (138 institutions) and “disuse syndrome rehabilitation (I)”, 75.4% (135 institutions).

Noteworthy Topics

15.6% of Respondents have Installed Exercise Therapy Equipment Applicable to Specified Medical Fee Coverage & The Most Commonly Installed Equipment is “Functional Electrical Stimulation System for Walking Rehab”

Out of 179 institutions that have responded to the questionnaire, 15.6% (28 institutions) have exercise therapy equipment applicable to Specified Medical Fee Coverage. Although these medical devices have become applicable to the Specified Medical Fee Coverage since 2020, considering the fact that 15.3% (23 out of 150 institutions that responded to the questionnaire) in the last survey conducted from February to March 2021 said they have the devices, the number of installations is barely increasing.

The most commonly installed equipment at the above 28 institutions is “functional electrical stimulation system for walking rehab” (82.1%, 23 institutions), followed by “upper limb (including hands) rehabilitation robots” (35.7%, 10 institutions), and “extension, traction, and rotation exercise devices” (21.4%, 6 institutions).

When asked about the outlook for installing such medical devices to 149 institutions that currently do not have the equipment, 43.0% (64 institutions) said they “do not have a plan to install them, and are not interested”, and 27.5% (41 institutions) responded they “do not have a plan but are interested”.

Research Outline