Rehabilitation Medical Services for Children with Spina Bifida at Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions in Japan / The Japanese Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine

ABSTRACT

Spina bifida is a disease that requires cross-disciplinary treatment for each life stage from the neonatal period to adulthood. Various rehabilitation therapies are required depending on the life stage of patients. In this study, we aimed to clarify the current status of rehabilitation services at children's hospitals in order to improve quality of rehabilitation care for children with spina bifida. We performed a survey targeted at the Japanese Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions. The framework of the cross-disciplinary co-operation of medical treatments for spina bifida existed in 67% of children's hospitals surveyed. In most of these hospitals, the departments of rehabilitation medicine participated in these frameworks. In the medical treatment for children with spina bifida, acute phase rehabilitation after orthopaedic surgery was adequately provided in children's hospitals. However, convalescent and community-based phase rehabilitation therapies, and the co-operation with education institutions or habilitation/rehabilitation facilities for children were determined to be inadequate. Regarding general paediatric rehabilitation, convalescent and community-based phase rehabilitation therapies were mainly provided outside children's hospitals：habilitation/rehabilitation facilities for children mainly provided convalescent and community-based phase rehabilitation therapies and were considered to be the desirable setting for such therapies. To improve paediatric rehabilitation, including the rehabilitation for children with spina bifida, several factors need to be considered. These include the construction of appropriate frameworks for medical services (such as personnel training and the recruitment of rehabilitation doctors, therapists, and related staff), and co-operation with regional education institutions or habilitation/rehabilitation facilities for children.