A randomized clinical trial of the effectiveness of a discharge planning intervention in hospitalized elders with hip fracture due to falling

AIM: The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a discharge plan in hospitalized elderly patients with hip fracture due to falling. BACKGROUND: Hip fractures are an important cause of morbidity and mortality among older people. Hip fracture patients require ongoing medical and long-term care services. Discharge plan services can play a very important role for these patients, since the services improved their outcome conditions. METHODS: Hip fracture patients aged 65 years and older (n = 126), hospitalized due to falling and discharged from a medical centre in northern Taiwan, were randomly assigned to either a comparison group (the routine care) or experimental group (the discharge planning intervention). The outcomes used to determine the effectiveness of the intervention were: length of hospitalized stay, rate of readmission, repeat falls and survival, and activities of daily living. RESULTS: The discharge planning intervention decreased length of stay, rate of readmission and rate of survival and improved activities of daily living for intervention group compared with those of control group. Mean total SF-36 scores of patients in the experimental group were higher than for the control group and both groups had improved quality of life. CONCLUSION: The discharge planning benefited older people with hip fractures. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: A discharge planning intervention by a nurse can improve physical outcomes and quality of life in hip fracture patients.