Article

The evaluation of rehabilitation success as measured by different
tools is becoming increasingly important in terms of time and money allocation.
We wanted to know whether functional change in the first week predicts subsequent
improvement in a geriatric inpatient rehabilitation clinic. DESIGN: Observational
longitudinal study. SETTING: Geriatric inpatient rehabilitation clinic in
Germany. SUBJECTS: One hundred and sixty-one inpatients (117 women) with a median
age of 82 years, capable of walking at baseline. MAIN MEASURES: Weekly
assessments of physical function were performed from admission until three weeks
later. We used a self-rated tool (the function component of the Short Form - Late
Life Function and Disability Index), a proxy-rated tool (the Barthel Index) and a
performance-based tool (gait speed). We set up linear regression models to
estimate the predictive capacity of change in physical function within the first
week on change in physical function within the following two weeks. RESULTS:
Positive correlations were found between functional change within the first week
and total change within three weeks. However, correlations of the same periods of
change with subsequent change were negative. Correlations were highly significant
for both analysis with P-values <0.0001 when the same measures for prediction and
outcome were used. Correlations were inconsistent when prediction and outcome
were different. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement within the first week of inpatient
rehabilitation is negatively correlated with subsequent functional change.

Langue : ANGLAIS