Retrospective Analysis of Inpatient Rehabilitation Consultation Referrals and Clinical Profiles in a Tertiary Care Teaching Institute (February 2022 to February 2026)

Background Rehabilitation is increasingly viewed as a vital part of comprehensive inpatient care, especially in large tertiary hospitals. Despite this growing recognition, there is still limited published information on how inpatient rehabilitation consultations are conducted in newly established tertiary care teaching hospitals in India. Objectives The primary objective of this study was to analyze temporal trends in inpatient rehabilitation consultations at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Gorakhpur, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. The secondary objective was to describe the demographic characteristics of referred patients, the referring clinical departments, and the diagnostic categories prompting rehabilitation consultation. Methods A retrospective, observational, record-based study was conducted using inpatient rehabilitation consultation records maintained by the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at AIIMS Gorakhpur from February 2022 to February 2026. Data on referral trends, referring departments, patient demographics (age and sex), and primary diagnostic categories were extracted. Records were screened using predefined eligibility criteria, and duplicate and incomplete records were excluded. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Human Ethics Committee (IHEC/AIIMS-GKP/BMR/683/2026). Results A total of 1,025 inpatient rehabilitation consultations were included in the analysis. The number of consultations increased during the study period, rising from 61 in 2022 to 418 in 2025. The Department of Medicine was the leading source of referrals (52.3%), followed by Pulmonary Medicine (12.2%), Other departments (12.1%), Pediatrics (10.5%), Dermatology (6.6%), and the Department of Surgery (5.5%). The median age of referred patients was 60 years (IQR, 40-70), and 56.9% were male. Neurological conditions were the most frequent indication for rehabilitation consultation, accounting for 35.7% of all referrals. Conclusion The number of inpatient rehabilitation consultations increased during the study period. Most referrals originated from medical specialties and involved older adults with neurological or other complex medical conditions. These findings provide useful information for rehabilitation service planning, workforce development, and resource allocation in tertiary care teaching hospitals. The findings should be interpreted in light of the retrospective single-center design and the inherent limitations of routinely collected clinical data.