Gender Difference in the Utilization and Users' Characteristics of Community Rehabilitation Programs for Cerebrovascular Disease Patients in Japan

The purpose of this study was to see whether there was gender difference in the utilization of a community rehabilitation program for cerebrovascular disease (CVD) patients in Japan and to examine factors affecting this gender difference. For CVD patients who participated in 16 community rehabilitation programs in the Saitama prefecture (n = 190), we studied their clinical and functional status, socioeconomic conditions, the degree of family support, and their use of rehabilitation and transportation services. The general characteristics of the programs and the type of transportation services they offered were also surveyed. The female proportion of all the program participants was 34.2% and its proportion tended to be smaller when their ADL level was worse. However, such difference by gender lessened after the participants were stratified by the type of transportation services and by such conditions as being accompanied by a family member during transportation.