Incidence of Free of Charge Physiotherapy in a Danish National Cohort of Stroke, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Abstract

Background

Denmark is a welfare state with a publically funded healthcare system that includes the right to free of charge physiotherapy (FCP) for patients with chronic or progressive disease who fulfill strict criteria. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of referral to FCP in patients with a hospital diagnosis of stroke, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) between 2007 and 2016.

Methods

The study was register-based and included data from The Danish National Patient Registry and The National Health Service Registry. The study population included the four largest disease groups receiving FCP in Denmark. The incidence of receiving FCP was reported as the cumulated incidence proportion (CIP).

Results

The study showed that FCP was mainly initiated within the first 2 years after diagnosis. The 2-year CIP was 8% for stroke patients, 53% for PD patients, 49% for MS patients, and 16% for RA patients. The proportion of patients referred to FCP generally increased over the period of the study due to more patients being referred from medical specialists in primary care.

Conclusion

This study found substantial differences in the incidence of referral to FCP in a Danish population of stroke, PD, MS and RA patients.

Keywords:

• non-pharmacologic treatment
• chronic disease
• progressive disease
• rehabilitation

Abbreviations

CI, Confidence Interval; CIP, Cumulated Incidence Proportion; FCP, Free of Charge Physiotherapy; MS, Multiple Sclerosis; PD, Parkinson’s Disease; RA, Rheumatoid Arthritis; RR, Risk Ratio; DNPR, the Danish National Patient Registry; DHSR, the National Health Service Registry.

Data Sharing Statement

As part of the Data Use Agreement at Statistics Denmark, authors are not allowed to provide raw data. Upon reasonable request, the corresponding author will provide statistical programming codes used to generate the results.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

The project was funded by “Foundation of research, quality and education in practical physiotherapy”, Denmark.