Cross-sectional survey of rehabilitation service availability for stroke and hip fracture in Australian public hospitals.

OBJECTIVE To describe the rehabilitation services available for people with stroke and hip fracture across New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory metropolitan and rural/regional public hospitals in Australia. DESIGN A cross-sectional study design was used. SETTING New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory public hospital providing rehabilitation services for stroke and hip fracture. PARTICIPANTS Delegates from 59 eligible hospitals. INTERVENTION Information about the type, number and availability of inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services at each hospital was collected via survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Counts, percentages, mean (SD), median (IQR) were used to quantify the number and type of inpatient and outpatient services available. RESULTS Across inpatient rehabilitation units, reduced availability was noted in the number of clinical disciplines available, availability of neuropsychology and social work in rural units. Across outpatient rehabilitation services, reduced availability was noted in the number of disciplines available, availability of occupational therapy, psychology, rehabilitation physicians, specialist nursing, geriatricians, and podiatry in rural services. Five rural hospitals had no access to outpatient rehabilitation. CONCLUSION There was reduced availability of rehabilitation services and health disciplines in rural/regional settings. A follow-up study is underway investigating relationships between reduced outpatient service availability and inpatient length of stay in rural/regional versus metropolitan hospitals.