The three Mobility Activities Measure scales assessing the lower extremity can be used across outpatient rehabilitation settings to provide consistent and sensitive measures of changes in patients' mobility. Implications for rehabilitation All the scales of the Mobility Activities Measure for the lower extremity were sensitive to both positive and negative change across the follow-up periods. Overall, the summary measure encompassing the three Mobility Activities Measure scales for the lower extremity appeared more sensitive to positive changes than the Physical Functioning Scale, especially during the first four weeks of treatment. The summary measure also detected a higher percentage of participants with positive change that exceeded the minimal detectable change than the Patient-Specific Functional Scale and the Physical Functioning Scale at the first follow-up period. By demonstrating their consistency and sensitivity to change, the three Mobility Activities Measures scales can now be considered in order to track patients' functional progress. Mobility Activities Measure can be therefore used in patients with musculoskeletal conditions across outpatient rehabilitation settings to provide estimates of change in mobility activities focusing on the lower extremity.
This study aimed to assess the relationship between adverse events (AEs) and changes in the levels of disability from admission to discharge during inpatient rehabilitation programs.A prospective cohort study was conducted among a cohort of inpatients (216 older adults) admitted to a rehabilitation unit. The occurrences of any AE were reported. The level of disability regarding mobility activities was estimated using the disability qualifiers from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. Changes in the levels of disability between admission and discharge were assessed. Baseline-measured covariates were also selected.Regarding all 4 disability levels (“no limitation,” “mild,” “moderate,” “severe,” and “complete disability”), a total of 159 participants experienced an improvement at discharge (126 participants progressed 1 level, whereas 33 improved 2 disability levels), 56 made no change, and no participants experienced a decline.The occurrence of fall-related events and the diagnostic group (musculoskeletal system) are specific predictive factors of change in the level of disability. The odds of undergoing a change in any disability level between admission and discharge decreases by 68% (1–0.32) when patients experience fall-related events (odds ratio [OR] = 0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.11–0.97, P = 0.041) and increases for individuals with musculoskeletal conditions (OR = 3.91, 95% CI = 1.34–11.38, P = 0.012).Our findings suggest that increased efforts to prevent the occurrence of these AEs, together with early interventions suited to the diagnosis of the affected system, may have a positive influence on the improvement of disability. Further studies should evaluate disability over time after discharge to obtain a better sense of how transient or permanent the associated disability may be.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.