Interdisciplinary intervention for hip fracture in older Taiwanese: benefits last for 1 year.

BACKGROUND:

Little is known about the effects of interventions for elderly patients with hip fracture in Asian countries, particularly beyond the short term.

METHODS:

Outcomes (service utilization, clinical outcomes, self-care ability, and depressive symptoms) were assessed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge. Self-care ability (ability to perform activities of daily living [ADLs]), was measured by the Chinese Barthel Index. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Chinese Geriatric Depression Scale, short form.

RESULTS:

The experimental group (n = 80) had a significantly better ADL trajectory than the control group (n = 82) during the 1st year after discharge (p =.002). More participants in the experimental group than in the control group recovered their previous walking ability both at 6 months (81% vs 58%, respectively) and 12 months (84% vs 66%, respectively) after discharge. Overall, the odds ratio for the experimental group recovering their previous walking ability was 2.72 (p <.001) compared to the control group. The experimental group had significantly fewer depressive symptoms than the control group during the 1st year following discharge (p =.004).

CONCLUSION:

An interdisciplinary intervention for hip fracture with a discharge support component benefited elderly persons with hip fracture by improving both self-care ability and walking ability, and by decreasing depressive symptoms during the 1st year after hospital discharge.