Rehabilitation therapy and multimorbidity: a retrospective cohort study

Aims — Home care rehabilitation therapists can address the functional health needs of those with multimorbidity. This study described individuals with multimorbidity receiving home care rehabilitation therapy and examined the relationship between receipt of rehabilitation therapy and hospital utilization.

Methods — The cohort included long-stay home care clients experiencing multimorbidity who were discharged from an inpatient rehabilitation setting (N = 5,234) between 2007 and 2015. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between receipt of rehabilitation therapy and hospitalization.

Results — Nearly 40% of this cohort had 5+ chronic conditions. Those receiving only rehabilitation therapy were less likely to be readmitted to the hospital (OR = 0.68; 95% CI: 0.51–0.92), and less likely to use emergency services (OR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.66–0.97) at the 3-month timeframe. Similar trends were observed at the 12-month timeframe.

Conclusions — Individuals with multimorbidity have complex health needs and home care rehabilitation therapists aid in sustained discharges and influence subsequent health utilization.