title: Wait times for physical and occupational therapy in the public system for people with arthritis in quebec.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although arthritis is the leading cause of pain and disability in Canada, and physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) are beneficial both for chronic osteoarthritis (OA) and for inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there appear to be problems with access to such services. The aim of this study was to document wait times from referral by physician to consultation with PT or OT in the public health care system for people with arthritis in Quebec, Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  Appointments were requested by telephone, using hypothetical case scenarios; wait times were defined as the time between initial request and appointment date. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the wait times in relation to diagnosis, service provider and geographic area.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For both scenarios (OA and RA) combined, 13% were offered an appointment within 6 months, 13% offered given an appointment within 6-12 months, 24% were told they would need to wait longer than 12 months, and 22% were refused services. The remaining 28% were told they would require an evaluation appointment for functional assessment before being given an appointment for therapy. No difference was found between RA and OA diagnoses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study suggests that most people with arthritis living in the province of Quebec are not receiving publicly accessible PT or OT intervention in a timely manner.
authors.affiliation: University of Montreal, Faculty of Medicine, School of Rehabilitation.
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Delaurier
authors.affiliation: McGill University Health Centre, Department of Medicine, Divisions of Rheumatology and Clinical Epidemiology, Montreal, Que.
authors.forename: Sasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bernatsky
authors.affiliation: University of Montreal, Faculty of Medicine, School of Rehabilitation.
authors.forename: Marie-Hélène
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Raymond
authors.affiliation: University of Montreal, Faculty of Medicine, School of Rehabilitation.
authors.forename: Debbie Ehrmann
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Feldman
keywords: arthritis; health services accessibility; rehabilitation