Clinical experience of rehabilitation therapists with chronic diseases: a quantitative approach.

OBJECTIVES: To provide an overview of the numbers of patients with selected chronic diseases treated by rehabilitation therapists (physical therapists, occupational therapists, exercise therapists and podiatrists). The study was performed to get quantitative information on the degree to which rehabilitation therapists are experienced in the treatment of chronically ill patients.
METHODS: Secondary analyses were performed on several databases containing representative data on patients treated by rehabilitation therapists. Rates per 1000 patients in the populations of these rehabilitation therapists and 90% confidence intervals were computed for patients with the following diagnoses: ischaemic heart diseases, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, headache syndromes, COPD/asthma, diabetes mellitus and chronic back pain (the size of the latter group could only be assessed in physical therapy in primary care).
RESULTS: The largest group of chronically ill patients treated by physical therapists in primary care are patients with chronic back pain (82 per 1000). Stroke patients are the most common chronically ill patients treated by physical therapists in institutional care (157 per 1000) and by occupational therapists in institutional (358 per 1000) and noninstitutional care (246 per 1000). These therapists also see a variety of other chronically ill patients. Exercise therapists and podiatrists treat less patients with the selected chronic diseases.