Original Research
Effect of pre-fracture mobility on the early post-operative functional outcome in elderly patients with a hip fracture
South African Journal of Physiotherapy | Vol 69, No 3 | a28 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajp.v69i3.28
| © 2013 S. Adam, L. Godlwana, D. Maleka
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 12 December 2013 | Published: 12 December 2013
Submitted: 12 December 2013 | Published: 12 December 2013
About the author(s)
S. Adam, Helen Joseph Hospital, Auckland Park.L. Godlwana, Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand.
D. Maleka, Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand.
Full Text:
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Background: Hip fractures are among the most commoncauses of disability and hospitalisation in the elderly. There are no studies inSouth Africa that determine the effect of pre-fracture functional mobility onearly post-operative functional outcome in elderly patients with a hip fracture.Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of pre-fracture functionalmobility on early post-operative functional outcome in elderly patients with ahip fracture.Methodology: A prospective pre-test post-test observational study designwas done. Assessments were conducted pre-operatively, at discharge and sixweeks post discharge at two public hospitals in Johannesburg, South Africa. Thepre-fracture functional mobility of the participants was determined using theNew Mobility Score (NMS) pre-operatively. At discharge and at six weeks post discharge the participants post-operative functionallevel was assessed using the Elderly Mobility Scale (EMS) and the Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS).Results: More than two thirds of participants were independently mobile prior to the fracture. Pre-fracture functional mobilityis a strong determinant of early post operative functional outcome in elderly patients with a hip fracture(β = 1.39, p = 0.0001).Conclusion: Independent pre-fracture mobility predicts better early post-operative functional outcomes in the elderly.
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