TITLE:
Improvement in Patient Mobility Following Short-Term Rehabilitation in Skilled Nursing Facilities
AUTHORS:
Sean R. Silver, Jaden A. Silver
KEYWORDS:
Mobility, Skilled Nursing Facility, Rehabilitative Services, Independent Living, Healthcare
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation,
Vol.12 No.1,
February
8,
2024
ABSTRACT: Background: Mobility in older adults can be impaired after acute illness or
hospitalization, and the level of severity can be used as a predictor of one’s
ability to return to independent living. Patients are often referred to skilled
nursing facilities in hopes of improving their mobility. We wanted to prove
that rehabilitative services at Skilled Nursing Facilities improve overall
outcomes. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of data from
4612 patients admitted for short-term rehabilitation in a large nursing home
chain in California. Our aim was to determine whether patients’ mobility
scores, as measured by rehabilitative staff, significantly improved by time of
discharge compared to their scores at admission. Mobility scores were rated
from 1 to 6, with 1 being the most dependent on aid and 6 being the most
independent, over a variety of tasks at admission and compared to scores at
discharge. Pearson’s correlations were performed to determine if there were
significant relationships in the data: the Pearson’s correlation coefficient
was used to describe the relationships between patient admission to a skilled
nursing facility and medical improvement upon discharge. Results: The
study demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in patients’
mobility scores upon discharge, with Medicare insured patients showing on
average 57% improvement and Managed Care insured patients showing on average
59% improvement. Additionally, admission scores appeared to be predictive of
the patient’s outcome at discharge. Conclusions: The values and consistency
of improvement support the use of acute rehabilitative services in skilled
nursing facilities. An equation can be formulated that evaluates patients’
estimated mobility statuses upon discharge from facilities based on their
conditions on their arrivals. With this, new interventions can be studied and
compared to the current standard of care by using these measurements. They can
determine if further improvements can be made to increase patient outcomes.