The State of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in India

Background and/or Objectives: The goal of this project is to assess awareness and the level of care available to patients requiring rehabilitative services in India.

Design: Systematic Review

Setting : Urban and Rural areas in India

Participants : Urban and Rural population in India who need rehabilitation; physicians who are providing rehabilitative care

Interventions: The systematic review follows the Preferred Reporting Items Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Articles were sourced from Google Scholar and PubMed. Included studies discussed the state of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) in India, including case reports and personal experiences from physiatrists. Studies addressing awareness, education, and availability of in-patient and out-patient rehabilitative services were also reviewed.

Main Outcome Measures: Access to rehabilitative services in urban and rural India; availability of in-patient and out-patient PM&R services; experiences of practicing physiatrists; awareness of PM&R among Indian medical graduates and public.

Results: PM&R is a limited but emerging specialty in India. Only a few hospitals and large institutions have dedicated PM&R departments, which limits access to patients especially in rural areas. Although there are no exact statistics, studies indicate insufficient access to rehabilitation. This is attributed to low awareness among patients and minimal PM&R education in medical training. Limited postgraduate PM&R opportunities and awareness results in few practicing specialists. However, states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have initiated rural rehabilitation camps to improve access and awareness. In addition, new initiatives aim to establish PM&R departments in more medical schools, which could expand training and patient access.

Conclusions: There is limited research and statistics on level of rehabilitative care available to patients in rural and urban India. There is also lack of awareness and resources to provide the services. Efforts are currently being made to educate patients, increase rehabilitation centers, and implement dedicated PM&R departments in medical schools, which should improve access.