Availability of outpatient rehabilitation facilities in 2015 in Iran: A nationwide study

Background: Disability can involve many by diseases, injuries, or aging, and thus access to rehabilitation services has a key role in improving these patients’ social life. Since 2008, Iran has improved the access to rehabilitation facilities along with the global convention. Yet, nationwide studies are required to evaluate the fair distribution of centres in each province. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the distribution of outpatient rehabilitation services in 32 provinces of Iran to help policymakers make more appropriate decisions. Methods: In this cross sectional study, which was conducted between April and October 2017, a master facilities list (MFL) of rehabilitation services that was developed in Iran was used to identify health facilities. Data were collected from the statistics of the Deputy for Rehabilitation of Social Welfare Organization offices and Red Crescent Organization in 32 provinces of Iran. Descriptive data were analysed by SPSS version 22 and reported by percentage and number in 1 000 000 population; distribution was drawn on Iran’s map by the GIS software. Results: According to the MFL, outpatient rehabilitation services include physical medicine & rehabilitation, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, audiometry, and orthotics & prosthetics (90%); other rehabilitation centres include general rehabilitation centres, day care centres, and vocational centres (10%). The largest number of occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and audiology offices were found in Tehran, where general rehabilitation centres, day care centres, and vocational centres were less than 3 per 1 000 000 population. There were no rehabilitation centers in 14 provinces, and there were very few physical medicine and rehabilitation centres in most of the provinces. Conclusion: There was significant difference in the distribution of outpatient rehabilitation facilities in different provinces of Iran and some provinces required urgent attention of policymakers, as they had the least number or no rehabilitation facilities.