Provision of public funding for wheelchairs and postural support devices in Japan.

The study counts public grants, not individual patients, so it cannot show clinical need, benefit, or harm. The 2006 drop is explained by a legal-system revision and a partial reporting period, not by a sudden change in patient demand. The 2011 data were affected by the Tohoku Earthquake, with a period not tallied in the afflicted area. The categories changed several times since 1997, and adult and child records were combined only up to 2006. The data exclude wheelchairs provided under Long-Term Care Insurance and products purchased out of pocket. The paper's table totals and narrative totals differ for postural support devices and seating furniture. The estimate of devices in use depends on government service-life assumptions and one-user-per-device assumptions, not on counted current users.

This study was funded as part of the FY2017 Health and Labor Sciences Research Grant-funded Comprehensive Research Project on Disabled Persons Policy. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Do not read the fall in wheelchair grants or the rise in seating furniture grants as proof that patients need fewer wheelchairs or more seating. The counts are public grants, and the 2006 drop is explained by a legal-system revision and partial reporting.