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- Title
Outcomes of early rehabilitation in elderly patients.
- Authors
Grote, Vincent; Fischer, Michael J.
- Abstract
In recent years, the prevalence of chronic diseases has increased, especially in the aging population. Rehabilitation plays a key role in alleviating and even preventing the physical limitations associated with aging and living with chronic diseases. Unfortunately, many older people who could benefit from inpatient follow-up rehabilitation (WHO Phase II) do not have access to it because of their fragile health status after hospitalization. To bridge the gap between primary/acute care and rehabilitation, the concept of transitional rehabilitative care was introduced. This has allowed patients to spend fewer days in the hospital, avoiding long hospital stays and the need for long-term care. To evaluate the effectiveness of this transitional care, a pilot project was conducted in 2022 with 114 patients. Of these, 50 patients participated in at least three measurement time points (with a mean length of stay of 7 ± 3 weeks), and 36 patients were followed up 24 weeks after admission (t4). The sample had a mean age of 82 ± 7 years, with 88% of patients being female. The results of the study showed significant improvements in care needs (Barthel Index, HAQ), quality of life (pain, EQ-VAS), and physical mobility (Timed Up-and-Go Test, 10m gait speed) from the beginning (t1) to the end (t3) of the stay. This was especially true for the first three weeks of treatment (t1-t2). However, at follow-up 24 weeks after admission (t4), there was a marked deterioration in quality of life. Nevertheless, after six months, more than 80% of geriatric patients received both private (5 ± 7 hours per week) and/or professional (13 ± 12 hours per week) care at home, and only 15% of patients were in a long-term care facility. Qualified transitional care and rehabilitation is essential to enable elderly, multimorbid patients to return to independent living at home. The results of this study provide evidence for this and will be used to develop an evidence-based treatment pathway for early rehabilitation of geriatric patients.
- Subjects
OLDER patients; LONG-term care facilities; TRANSITIONAL care; OLDER people; WALKING speed; FUNCTIONAL loss in older people
- Publication
European Journal of Translational Myology, 2023, Vol 33, Issue 2, p83
- ISSN
2037-7452
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.4081/ejtm.2023.11427