Provision of overnight respite care for children using mechanical ventilation and associated facility characteristics in Japanese institutions for severe motor and intellectual disabilities

Objectives To quantify overnight respite care provision for children using mechanical ventilation in Japanese institutions for severe motor and intellectual disabilities (SMID) and examine associated facility characteristics.Methods A nationwide cross-sectional study included 139 member institutions of the Japanese Association for Severe Motor and Intellectual Disabilities. The primary outcome was reported provision of overnight short-stay care for children using mechanical ventilation during fiscal year 2023. Within institutions, provision was compared with that for children requiring other medical care. Facility support functions were examined in the primary analysis, with linked hospital data used in a secondary resource analysis.Results Eighty-five institutions (61.2%) reported overnight respite provision for children using mechanical ventilation versus 111 (79.9%) for children requiring other medical care (exact McNemar p < 0.001). Child development support was associated with provision in univariable analysis (OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.08–5.06). Medical Care Child Support Center designation showed a positive but imprecise adjusted association (aOR 2.61, 95% CI 0.94–7.19). In 96 directly linked institutions, hospital size and staffing intensity were not clearly associated with provision.Conclusions Overnight respite provision for children using mechanical ventilation was limited even among specialised SMID institutions. Organisational and community-support factors warrant further study.