Rehabilitation outcomes of older patients at 6 months follow-up after discharged from a geriatric day hospital (GDH)

Abstract: Whether rehabilitation outcome can be maintained after discharged from GDH has not been thoroughly investigated. This study was conducted to examine the rehabilitation outcome and its predictors 6 months after discharged from GDH. We studied 418 patients attended a GDH in Hong Kong. All of them had post-6-month assessment. Cognitive status was assessed with Cantonese version of mini-mental state examination (C-MMSE). Functional independence measure (FIM) upon GDH admission (FIM-adm), discharge (FIM-dis) and 6 months after discharge (FIM-p6m) were measured. FIM gain was FIM-dis−FIM-adm while FIM efficiency was FIM gain divided by number of GDH visits. Of the study pool, 164 (39.2%) showed a drop of FIM-p6m. There was a significant drop of FIM-p6m as compared with FIM-dis (p <0.001). However, the FIM-p6m remained significantly higher than FIM-adm (p <0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that FIM-dis was a negative predictor (p <0.001) while Parkinsonism was a positive predictor for drop of FIM-p6m (p =0.008). A proportion of functional gain can still be maintained 6 months after discharged from GDH. More studies are needed to look for strategies in maintaining functional gain in GDH discharged patients, especially those with Parkinsonism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]