Trends in rehabilitation services use in Chinese children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities: 2007- 2013

Publication date: Available online 10 June 2017
Source:Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Author(s): Ping He, Chao Guo, Yanan Luo, Xu Wen, JM Ian Salas, Gong Chen, Xiaoying Zheng
ObjectiveTo investigate trends in rehabilitation services use in children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities and to explore factors potentially contributing to the trends.DesignA population-based study using a multistage, randomized, cluster sampling process to ascertain participants in 2006, and a sub-sample was selected for follow-up surveys from 2007 to 2013.Setting31 provinces of China.ParticipantsChildren aged 0-17 years with intellectual disabilities were followed up for 7 years, with a total of 5,432 samples.InterventionsNot applicable.Main Outcome MeasuresThe outcome variable was whether individuals received at least one of rehabilitation services (occupational, physical, and speech or communication therapy) in the past 12 months.ResultsOverall, the utilization rates of rehabilitation services significantly increased from 14.4% in 2007 to 37.1% in 2013; and the trends were also significant in children aged 0-10 and 11-17 years, in males and females, and in rural participants. From 2007 to 2013, rehabilitation services utilization increased at an annual rate of 22.39% (95% CI: 18.11%, 26.82%) in the total sample. The rise was only significant in rural rather than urban individuals, resulting in the urban-rural gap in rehabilitation services use being narrowed. However, the minorities and those without health insurance still received fewer rehabilitation services than their respective counterparts.ConclusionsThere were upward trends in rehabilitation services use in participants over time, and the urban-rural gap was narrowed. However, there were still socioeconomic differences, in the form of ethnicity and health insurance, on rehabilitation services use among children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities.



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