Self-Care and Mobility Following Postacute Rehabilitation for Older Adults With Hip Fracture: A Multilevel Analysis.

OBJECTIVE

To examine contextual (facility and community) and individual factors associated with self-care and mobility outcomes among Medicare hip fracture patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study of 3 linked data files: Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility-Patient Assessment Instrument, Provider of Services, and Area Health Resources. Multilevel modeling was used to examine the effects of contextual and individual factors on self-care and mobility outcomes.

SETTING

Inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs).

PARTICIPANTS

Medicare hip fracture patients (N=35,264; mean age, 81y) treated in IRFs (N=1072) in 2012.

INTERVENTIONS

Not applicable.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Self-care (eating, grooming, bathing, upper and lower body dressing, toileting) and mobility (walk/wheelchair, stairs) at discharge.

RESULTS

Mean ± SD self-care and mobility scores at admission were 3.17±.87 and 1.24±.51, respectively; mean ± SD self-care and mobility scores at discharge were 5.03±1.09 and 3.31±1.54, respectively. Individual and contextual levels explained 44.4% and 21.6% of the variance in self-care at discharge, respectively, and 19.5% and 1.9% of the variance in mobility at discharge, respectively. At the individual level, age, race/ethnicity, cognitive and motor FIM scores at admission, and tier comorbidities explained variance in self-care and mobility; sex and length of stay explained variance only in self-care. At the contextual level, facilities' case mix (mean patient age, percent non-Hispanic white, mean self-care score at admission) and structural characteristics (rural location, freestanding, for-profit ownership) explained variance only in self-care; facilities' case mix (mean patient age, percent non-Hispanic white, percent living with social support, mean mobility score at admission) explained variance in mobility. Community variables were nonsignificant.

CONCLUSIONS

Individual and facility factors were significant predictors of discharge self-care and mobility among Medicare hip fracture patients in IRFs. The findings may improve quality of IRF services to hip fracture patients and inform risk adjustment methods.