This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Services Download to citation manager PubMed PubMed Citation

Interdisciplinary Intervention for Hip Fracture in Older Taiwanese: Benefits Last for 1 Year

¹ School of Nursing, ² Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
³ Traumatological Division, Department of Orthopedics, and Departments of ⁴ Trauma & Emergency Surgery, ⁵ Internal Medicine, and ⁶ Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Public Health & Biostatistics Consulting Center, and ⁸ Graduate Institute of Nursing, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Address correspondence to Yea-Ing L. Shyu, PhD, School of Nursing, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hua 1st Road, Kwei-Shan, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan. E-mail: yeaing{at}mail.cgu.edu.tw

Background. Little is known about the effects of interventions for elderly patients with hip fracture in Asian countries, particularly beyond the short term.

Methods. Outcomes (service utilization, clinical outcomes, self-care ability, and depressive symptoms) were assessed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge. Self-care ability (ability to perform activities of daily living [ADLs]), was measured by the Chinese Barthel Index. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Chinese Geriatric Depression Scale, short form.

Results. The experimental group (n = 80) had a significantly better ADL trajectory than the control group (n = 82) during the 1st year after discharge (p =.002). More participants in the experimental group than in the control group recovered their previous walking ability both at 6 months (81% vs 58%, respectively) and 12 months (84% vs 66%, respectively) after discharge. Overall, the odds ratio for the experimental group recovering their previous walking ability was 2.72 (p <.001) compared to the control group. The experimental group had significantly fewer depressive symptoms than the control group during the 1st year following discharge (p =.004).

Conclusion. An interdisciplinary intervention for hip fracture with a discharge support component benefited elderly persons with hip fracture by improving both self-care ability and walking ability, and by decreasing depressive symptoms during the 1st year after hospital discharge.

Key Words: Depressive symptoms • Hip fracture • Interdisciplinary intervention • Self-care ability • Walking ability