BACKGROUND
Femoral fractures require protracted hospitalization and often preclude return to pre-fracture levels of mobility, function and prior residential status following hospital discharge. Early prediction of rehabilitation and discharge potential in patients with femoral fracture would optimize discharge planning.
AIM
To identify predictive factors of discharge destination during the early phase of femoral fracture rehabilitation.
DESIGN
Prospective cohort design.
SETTING
Acute and postoperative rehabilitation hospital settings.
POPULATION
Data from 109 participants (65 women [59.6%]) admitted for unilateral femoral fracture were included.
METHODS
Sociodemographic information, hip pain severity during gait (Numeric Pain Rating Scale), mobility (Elderly Mobility Scale), activities of daily living (Modified Barthel Index), cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]), exercise self-efficacy (Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale), amount of physiotherapy received, and caregiver availability were assessed pre- and/or postoperatively. Discharge destination was assessed via telephone interviews 6 weeks after discharge from acute care. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to determine optimal cut-off scores for all outcomes based on discharge destination. Outcomes demonstrating a significant area under the curve were entered as dichotomous independent variables (
i.e.
, above or below ROC-derived cut-off values) in subsequent logistic regression analyses to determine predictors of discharge destination.
RESULTS
SEE Score ≥53 (odds ratio [OR]=5.975, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.674-21.333, P=0.006), female sex (OR=3.421, 95% CI=1.187-9.861, P=0.023), ≥8 physiotherapy sessions (OR=4.633, 95% CI=1.559-13.771, P=0.006), MMSE Score ≥17 (OR=3.374, 95% CI=1.047-10.873, P=0.042), and caregiver availability (OR=3.766, 95% CI=1.133-12.520, P=0.030) were identified as significant predictors of home discharge.
CONCLUSIONS
Exercise self-efficacy, female sex, more physiotherapy rehabilitation training, better pre-operative cognitive function, and caregiver availability emerged as important predictors of home discharge following femoral fracture.
CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT
These findings are highly translational and may be useful for informing clinical guidelines and policy decisions regarding rehabilitation potential and discharge pathway selection during early hospitalization following femoral fracture surgery.