Longer weekly home-visit rehabilitations linked to improved activities of daily living in older adults

Tsukuba, Japan—In aging societies, the role of home-visit rehabilitation (HR)—which provides physical, occupational, and speech therapy in patients' homes—is becoming increasingly important for supporting independent living. Although previous studies have shown that HR can help maintain and improve activities of daily living (ADL) among older adults with limited access to outpatient services, the dose-response relationship between the amount of HR time per week and ADL improvement remains unclear.

In this study, researchers analyzed ADL outcomes recorded during routine clinical practice using anonymized records from home-visit nursing stations collected through Kaipoke, a management support system used by long-term care and disability welfare providers.

Compared with the group receiving ≤40 min per week, participants receiving >40-60 minutes, >60-80 minutes, and >80-120 minutes HR per week over the six-month period showed significant improvements in ADL.

Further subgroup analyses revealed that longer weekly HR was associated with greater improvement in ADL among older adults with moderate to severe care needs (levels 2-5), whereas no significant differences were observed in the level 1 group, whose members were relatively more independent at baseline. Similar trends were also observed in analyses restricted to older adults with cerebrovascular disease or fractures.

The findings highlight the need for adequate HR duration to support ADL improvements, especially among older adults with greater care needs. Providing appropriate access to rehabilitation services can help maintain independence and quality of life as Japan's population continues to age.

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This research was funded by SMS Co., Ltd., (grant no. CRE30018, the University of Tsukuba).

_{Original Paper}

Title of original paper:
Association between weekly amount of home-visit rehabilitation and changes in activities of daily living: A retrospective cohort study using home-visit nursing station records

Journal:
Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation

DOI:
10.1016/j.apmr.2025.12.024

_{Correspondence}

Professor TAMIYA, Nanako
Health Services Research and Development Center / Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba

TOMITA, Makiko, PhD
Analytics & Innovation Department, SMS Co., Ltd.

_{Related Link}

Institute of Medicine
Department of Health Services Research, Institute of Medicine