The effectiveness of a physiatrist-led acute hospital based postoperative hip fracture inpatient rehabilitation program: A single-center retrospective study

Background Postoperative hip fracture rehabilitation in Singapore has historically been carried out in both acute and community hospitals (CH). An increasing majority of patients with hip fractures now receive inpatient rehabilitation in CH, and it is often believed that Acute hospital (AH) - based rehabilitation may be less cost-effective than their CH counterparts. Objective: This retrospective study aims to review the effectiveness of an AH-based hip fracture postoperative rehabilitation program. Methods This study retrospectively reviewed the database of postoperative hip fracture patients who underwent a physiatrist-led AH-based inpatient rehabilitation from Jan 2010 to Dec 2016. The primary outcomes were the functional improvement assessed by functional independence measure (FIM) and FIM efficiency. The secondary outcome included the length of stay (LOS), successful discharge to home rate, mortality rate, and complication rate. Results A total of 293 cases were included in the study. After participation in the inpatient rehabilitation program, the mean total FIM increased from 83.9 ± 12.7 (mean ± SD) to 93.9 ± 16.2 (p < .001). The motor FIM increased from 47.1 ± 10.9 to 56.1 ± 10.1 (p < .001). 269 (91.8%) patients were successfully discharged home. Inpatient mortality was 0.3% (1/293). The complications rate during inpatient rehabilitation was 16.0% with urinary tract infection being the most frequent complication (10.2%). The median LOS for inpatient rehabilitation was 19 days (15, 28). Conclusions After completing a physiatrist-led postoperative hip fracture inpatient rehabilitation program in an acute hospital, patients demonstrated significant functional improvement (p < .0001). The inpatient rehabilitation program has a high discharge home rate and low in-hospital mortality.