Article

A patient's functional ability after hospital discharge may be influenced by
in-hospital rehabilitation and discharge destination. However, we know very
little about how in-hospital rehabilitation intervention interacts with the type
of discharge destination or how this interaction influences patients' functional
abilities. Thus, how an interaction between in-hospital rehabilitation and
discharge destination influences a patient's subsequent functional ability was
examined. This was a cross-sectional study whose participants were inpatients who
underwent rehabilitation between February 2008 and December 2010 at a hospital in
Japan (n = 835). Participants were categorized into three condition groups (i.e.,
stroke, orthopedic, disuse syndrome). Then, interaction effects between the
rehabilitation therapy and the type of discharge destination on a patient's
subsequent functional ability were estimated by hierarchical linear regression
analysis in each of the three subgroups. In models where the dependent variable
was Functional Independence Measure (FIM) score at 3 mo after hospital discharge,
a significant interaction between rehabilitation potential (a measure based on
the FIM effectiveness measure) and discharge destination (home or other) was
observed in the stroke and orthopedic patients (both p < 0.001). These findings
may be useful in deciding on discharge destinations for patients.

Langue : ANGLAIS