Abstract
[Purpose] A 6-year-and-7-month prospective survey was performed to evaluate long-term effects of low-frequency home-visit rehabilitation performed by physiotherapists in cooperation with health care or welfare workers on basic activities of daily living (ADL) by disabled persons in rehabilitation-deficient areas. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects were 69 home-dwelling disabled persons in 5 towns or villages in northeastern Japan. Home-visit rehabilitation was performed on a monthly basis for 54 of them (intervention group: mean age=69.3 years) with the cooperation of physiotherapists and other health care/welfare workers. [Results] During the intervention period (mean 13.1-month), the Barthel Index improved significantly for the intervention compared with the reference group (15 persons who did not receive home-visit rehabilitation: mean age=69.6 years), with a multivariable odds ratio of 6.2 (95% confidence interval, 1.6-24.5). However, during the follow-up period (mean 44.2-month) after the intervention, the Barthel Index for the intervention group returned to nearly the baseline level. [Conclusion] Our results suggest that home-visit rehabilitation performed jointly by physiotherapist and other professionals, even with low frequency, is effective for improving the ADL independence by the disabled in rehabilitation-deficient areas, as well as the need for measures to prevent a decline in ADL after the end of intervention.
