Regional disparity in the provision of rehabilitation services using the open data from the Japanese national claims database: an ecological study

OBJECTIVES: There are few reports on regional differences in the supply/utilisation balance and provision of rehabilitation services. This study analysed those regional differences in Japan to help policymakers provide more uniform and efficient rehabilitation services and optimally allocate related resources. DESIGN: An ecological study. SETTING: 47 prefectures and 9 regions in Japan in 2017. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary measures were ‘supply/utilisation (S/U) ratio’, calculated by dividing rehabilitation supply converted to service units, by rehabilitation utilisation and ‘utilisation/expected utilisation (U/EU) ratio’, calculated by dividing utilisation by EU. The EU was defined as utilisation expected from the demography in each area. Data required to calculate these indicators were collected from open sources such as the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan Open Data Japan. RESULTS: The S/U ratios were higher in Shikoku, Kyusyu, Tohoku and Hokuriku regions, and lower in Kanto and Tokai regions. The number of rehabilitation providers per population was higher mostly in the western part of Japan and lower mostly in the eastern part. The U/EU ratios were also higher mostly in the western part, and lower mostly in the eastern part such as Tohoku and Hokuriku regions. The same trend was seen for cerebrovascular disease and musculoskeletal disorder rehabilitation, which accounted for approximately 84% of rehabilitation services. For disuse syndrome rehabilitation, such a trend did not exist, and the U/EU ratio differed by prefectures. CONCLUSIONS: The large surplus in rehabilitation supply in the western part was attributed to the greater number of providers, while the smaller surplus in Kanto and Tokai regions was due to the smaller amount of supply. The number of rehabilitation services used was lesser in the eastern part such as Tohoku and Hokuriku regions, indicating regional differences in the provision of rehabilitation services.