Patient resilience in the fracture orthopaedic rehabilitation geriatric environment.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the relationship between resilience and rehabilitation outcomes in older orthopaedic patients.

METHODS

Geriatric rehabilitation patients admitted to a general metropolitan hospital following a fracture were interviewed face-to-face. Their resilience was assessed using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and rehabilitation outcomes were assessed according to functional independence measure (FIM) gain, length of stay, discharge destination and mortality rate.

RESULTS

A total of 29 patient interviews were used in data analysis. Resilience scores varied from 49-92, with an average of 73, representing overall high resilience compared to general population samples. Resilience scores as measured by the CD-RISC did not correlate with functional improvements during rehabilitation postfracture.

CONCLUSION

Further studies, including patients with a broader range of resilience scores, particularly at the lower end of the spectrum, are required to explore the relationship between resilience and rehabilitation outcomes in greater depth.