Introduction:
Health care consequences of hip fracture The global incidence of geriatric hip fractures is projected to increase by more than 250% in the next twenty-five years. Local data showed that there was a steady increase from 3500 to more than 4500 hip fractures per year from 2000 to 2011. Nevertheless, the consequence of hip fractures is serious and costly. Ten percent of patients have a contralateral hip fracture, 30% of the patients are readmitted for other acute reasons, 25% need long-term care, 10-25% die within 1 year and almost 50% have residual functional disabilities.
Geriatric hip fracture clinical pathway decreased preoperative length of stay Since 2006, the geriatric hip fracture clinical pathway (GFH) has been implemented in the Hong Kong West Cluster. The implementation of GFH resulted in a decreased preoperative length of stay, decreased surgical site infection, decreased pressure sore, and decreased 30-day and 12-month mortality rate.
High dependency of patients upon discharge:
However, according to our data, a significant number of patients still required an extended length of stay, which is defined as more than 28 days in a rehabilitation hospital. More than 60% of the patients were discharged home, however, 39% and 51% of the patients had severe and moderate dependency respectively upon discharge from the rehabilitation hospital (Modified Barthel Index 0-60 and 61-90 respectively). Current training provided to those patients and their caregivers was brief and inadequate. The lack of a trained caregiver affects the decision to return home and patients may need settlement in nursing homes. Moreover, 12% had readmission within 28 days of discharge, with repeated falls accounting for the majority.
The patients were referred to a geriatric day hospital after discharge from the convalescent hospital. However, the waiting time for geriatric day hospital was 2 months. During this interval, the patients were discharged home and taken care of by the caregivers. The caregivers were unsupported and inadequately trained for the job.
Patient and caregiver empowerment for hip fracture patients in Hong Kong:
Patient empowerment has been used in patients with stroke and other geriatric conditions. There are only scarce studies focussing on geriatric hip fractures which required special care in terms of ambulation, transfers, and activities of daily living training. So far prospective randomized studies are lacking. A previous study showed patient empowerment resulted in a shortened length of stay and earlier return to previous living by comparing two hospitals.
In Hong Kong, the elderly hip fracture patients returning home are often taken care of by domestic helpers or family members. Caring for older patients after hospital discharge is challenging and many of their caregivers lack the confidence to do so. Hence, we opine that caregivers need special attention as well. Another study also studied the caregivers' burden of hip fracture patients in Taiwan. The caregivers experienced moderate burdens. Caregivers who could not access other resources for help experienced a higher burden.
There has been an increasing trend for patient and caregiver empowerment programs. A study done by Hendrix (2013) investigated the effects of an individualized caregiver training program on self-efficacy in-home care and symptom management. Results revealed a significant increase in self-efficacy after the training in the treatment group, however, their study focused on cancer patients only. Another study done by Coleman in the year 2004 tested whether an intervention designed to encourage older patients and their caregivers to assert a more active role during discharge could result in decreased rehospitalization rates. He showed the adjusted odds ratio comparing rehospitalization of intervention subjects with that of controls was 0.52 at 30 days, 0.43 at 90 days, and 0.57 at 180 days. Intervention patients reported high levels of confidence in obtaining essential information for managing their condition, communicating with members of the healthcare team, and understanding their medication regimen. Their patient population is heterogeneous and includes various medical and orthopaedic patients.
Most studies on patient and caregiver empowerment had shown positive results. The proposed study focuses on empowering hip fracture patients and their caregivers in all aspects in terms of ambulation, transfers, and activities of daily living training. The impact of empowerment on hip fracture patients and their caregivers has not been studied in Hong Kong and the aim of the project is to investigate if those fracture hip patients can be benefited from the empowerment program in terms of functional outcomes.
