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Prescription of adaptive equipment is a core component of occupational therapy practice. Adaptive equipment can help people with physical limitations to optimize their independence during the completion of activities of daily living. In this paper, we report the results of an audit of patients' use of eight pieces of prescribed bathing equipment eight weeks after discharge from hospital, and analyze the reasons for their patterns of use. Participants were 64 patients (mean age = 70.7 years, 62.5% female), discharged from a metropolitan hospital after treatment for a general medical condition or undergoing a surgical procedure, who had been prescribed one or more pieces of bathing equipment by an occupational therapist. The types of bathing equipment included in this study were shower stools, shower chairs, bath boards, hand held shower hoses, toe wipers, soap bags, nonslip mats, and long handled back brushes. Of 90 pieces of bathing equipment prescribed, an overall utilization rate of 71.1% was found. This ranged from 0.0% for long handled back brushes to 100% for shower stools. Patients' perception of the benefit of the equipment, their involvement in its selection, whether they had received training in its use, and whether family members were present during this training were associated with equipment use. The need for a more patient- centred approach in the process of prescribing adaptive equipment is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]