PRIMARY DISABILITY CAUSED BY INJURIES AND DISEASES OF THE MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM AS ONE OF THE PREDICTORS OF THE NEED FOR THE PROVISION OF REHABILITATION SERVICES TO THE POPULATION OF THE REGION
Authors: Brych V. V. 
Published: October 2022

Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and injuries are identified as one of the main causes of disability of the country's population, which leads to a permanent loss of working capacity of adults. This leads to an increase in production losses, an increase in social benefits, an increase in the share of costs for restorative treatment and ensuring an adequate quality of life for the particular part of the population. Strengthening the rehabilitation direction in the health care system may be a possible solution to the problem. A systematic analysis of the levels of primary disability of the population as a result of injuries and diseases of the musculoskeletal system can become a reliable basis for determining the need for rehabilitation services in the region and planning the appropriate amount of resources for their provision.

The aim: to study the features of changes in the levels of disability of the population of the Transcarpathian region during 2011-2020 and to provide an assessment of the needs for rehabilitation services for people with injuries and diseases of the musculoskeletal system in the region.

Materials and methods. The data of the Centre for Medical and Social Expertise of the Transcarpathian region for the years from 2011 to 2020 served as research materials. The medical-statistical method and the method of structural-logical analysis were used during the study.

The results. It was established that in the region the third and fourth places in the structure of causes of disability for ten years were stably taken by diseases of the musculoskeletal system (13.0-16.9%) and injuries (9.4-10.8%). In total, 3,807 people were recognized as disabled for the first time as a result of these pathologies, and their average annual number was 983±49 people. The positive increase in the absolute number of cases of disability due to diseases of the musculoskeletal system and injuries during 2011-2019 outweighed the negative by 37.8%. With a fairly insignificant increase in the number of cases of newly established disability due to diseases of the musculoskeletal system, their share in the structure of causes of general disability increased from 13.0% to 16.9%, and the decrease of 23.6% in cases of annual disability due to injuries was also accompanied by a decrease in their share in the structure of causes of disability from 10.2% to 9.7%, which is connected with the trends of changes in the total number of cases of disability.

The results of the analysis showed the preservation of the relevance of diseases of the musculoskeletal system and injuries as causes of permanent disability, which requires the response of the health care system of the Transcarpathian region by creating effective methods to improve the situation, one of which can be the provision of timely, full-fledged and high-quality rehabilitation assistance to such patients.

The used methodological approach to the analysis and interpretation of the dynamics of the population's disability levels can serve as a management tool for regular calculations of the region's population's need for rehabilitation services.

Conclusions. Disability of the population of the Transcarpathian region due to injuries and diseases of the musculoskeletal system remains an important issue for the regional health care system, which causes a high level of rehabilitation needs. Administrative analysis of the average annual number of people with a newly established disability for the specified reasons and a detailed interpretation of the dynamics of disability levels will allow to plan the rehabilitation services and their resource provision in accordance with the needs of the population.