Reduced Requests for Medical Rehabilitation Because of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Difference-in-Differences Analysis.

The study counted rehabilitation requests, not completed services, so it cannot show how many people actually received rehabilitation. It used aggregated data, so it could not explain why individuals decided not to request rehabilitation. The period covered only 2019 and 2020, with the first wave, the summer, and the first part of the second wave, so it does not show later pandemic waves or long-term recovery. Some applications were excluded because sex or residency information was missing or because residency was abroad. The analysis compared one year with another and did not measure whether reduced rehabilitation capacity, postponed physician visits, or patient uncertainty contributed to the reduction.

Do not read the 14.5% reduction as proof that rehabilitation need fell or that therapists should refer less. The study counted requests, not completed services, and could not explain why people did not request rehabilitation.