Predictive factors for home discharge after femoral fracture surgery: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Femoral fractures require protracted hospitalization and often preclude return to pre-fracture levels of mobility, function and prior residential status following hospital discharge. Early prediction of rehabilitation and discharge potential in patients with femoral fracture would optimize discharge planning. AIM: To identify predictive factors of discharge destination during the early phase of femoral fracture rehabilitation. DESIGN: Prospective cohort design. SETTING: Acute and postoperative rehabilitation hospital settings. POPULATION: Data from 109 participants (65 women [59.6%]) admitted for unilateral femoral fracture were included. METHODS: Sociodemographic information, hip pain severity during gait (Numeric Pain Rating Scale), mobility (Elderly Mobility Scale), activities of daily living (Modified Barthel Index), cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]), exercise self-efficacy (Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale), amount of physiotherapy received, and caregiver availability were assessed pre- and/or postoperatively. Discharge destination was assessed via telephone interviews 6 weeks after discharge from acute care. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to determine optimal cut-off scores for all outcomes based on discharge destination. Outcomes demonstrating a significant area under the curve were entered as dichotomous independent variables (i.e., above or below ROC-derived cut-off values) in subsequent logistic regression analyses to determine predictors of discharge destination. RESULTS: SEE Score ≥53 (odds ratio [OR]=5.975, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.674-21.333, P=0.006), female sex (OR=3.421, 95% CI=1.187-9.861, P=0.023), ≥8 physiotherapy sessions (OR=4.633, 95% CI=1.559-13.771, P=0.006), MMSE Score ≥17 (OR=3.374, 95% CI=1.047-10.873, P=0.042), and caregiver availability (OR=3.766, 95% CI=1.133-12.520, P=0.030) were identified as significant predictors of home discharge. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise self-efficacy, female sex, more physiotherapy rehabilitation training, better pre-operative cognitive function, and caregiver availability emerged as important predictors of home discharge following femoral fracture. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: These findings are highly translational and may be useful for informing clinical guidelines and policy decisions regarding rehabilitation potential and discharge pathway selection during early hospitalization following femoral fracture surgery.