Reasons for the Lack of Practice using Public Transportation at Sub-acute Rehabilitation Hospitals in a Japanese Urban Community

Abstract

Using public transportation is crucial for people living in urban communities. However, a previous study suggested that approximately one-third of sub-acute rehabilitation hospitals in Japan could not practice using public transportation. Here we aimed to quantitatively and qualitatively examine why these hospitals did not practice. Managerial occupational therapists working in sub-acute rehabilitation hospitals in urban Japan were enrolled. Using a postal survey, some questions regarding the practice of using public transportation were asked. Two hundred and twenty-eight responses were analyzed. The frequency of practicing the use of public transportation was weakly correlated with the hospital bed number, therapist number, and average therapy duration. The qualitative data concerning reasons for not practicing were integrated into four categories: barriers of social system, specific factors of the task, existence of complementary method, and lack of necessity and awareness. It may be important to improve these inhibiting factors for providing appropriate occupational therapy.