Aim: To test the hypothesis that the functional outcome of hip fracture patients who receive weekend rehabilitation is better than that of similar patients who undergo non-weekend rehabilitation.
Methods: The present retrospective observational study used data from the Japan Rehabilitation Database spanning 2005-2015. We identified in-hospital hip fracture patients admitted to acute hospitals. After applying exclusion criteria, 469 patients were eligible. The primary outcome was motor Functional Independence Measure (FIM) efficiency.
Results: Of the patients with hip fracture, 68.0% received weekend rehabilitation. The patients who received weekend rehabilitation had significantly higher scores in motor FIM efficiency (mean 1.08 vs 0.73, P < 0.001), FIM efficiency (mean 1.12 vs 0.79, P = 0.001) and shorter length of stay (mean 32 vs 54, P < 0.001) than the patients without weekend rehabilitation. Multivariate linear regression analysis identified the weekend rehabilitation as a significant factor in motor FIM efficiency (coefficient 0.237, 95% confidence interval 0.074-0.400, P = 0.004), FIM efficiency (coefficient 0.235, 95% confidence interval 0.079-0.391, P = 0.003) and length of stay (coefficient -9.649, 95% confidence interval -18.194 to -1.104, P = 0.027).
Conclusions: The present cohort analysis showed that weekend rehabilitation for hip fracture patients can lead to functional recovery and reduce the length of stay. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 1143-1146.
Keywords: activities of daily living; hip fracture; physical therapy; retrospective study; weekend rehabilitation.
© 2018 Japan Geriatrics Society.