A discharge planning intervention decreased length of stay and readmission rates, and improved activities of daily living and quality of life compared to routine care in elderly hip fracture patients.
RCT (n=126)
randomly assigned
No
Does a discharge planning intervention improve clinical outcomes and quality of life in hospitalized elderly patients with hip fracture due to falling?
A nurse-led discharge planning intervention improves physical outcomes, quality of life, and reduces hospital length of stay and readmissions in elderly patients with hip fractures.
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.
Huang et al. (Mon,) conducted a rct in hip fracture due to falling (n=126). discharge planning intervention vs. routine care was evaluated on length of hospitalized stay, rate of readmission, repeat falls and survival, and activities of daily living. A discharge planning intervention decreased length of stay and readmission rates, and improved activities of daily living and quality of life compared to routine care in elderly hip fracture patients.