Physiotherapy after a hip fracture for people with dementia
Falls and hip fractures are a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in elderly, with up to 59% moving into long term care after. Hip fractures are 2.7 times more likely for those with dementia in comparison to age matched controls.
Therefore, a comprehensive review of the literature was carried out to identify the evidence base for physiotherapy interventions post hip fracture for people with dementia.
Of the 26 studies identified only 1 RCT focused on physiotherapy interventions, and concluded it was difficult to isolate results from multidisciplinary interventions.
Detailed description of the interventions was poor. Several studies encouraged standing on the first day postoperative and mobilizing as able, but lacked detail on the process with only 3 studies commenting on mobility aids used.
Others referred to components of therapy including strength, balance, transfer and movement, however the authors of this review highlight that lack of detail limits reproducibility.
2 systematic reviews concluded little evidence to support physiotherapy interventions for this client group.
Although the benefits of multidisciplinary rehabilitation to support optimal functional independence are recognized, the current lack of RCTs and reviews of physiotherapy interventions limits our professional ability to draw conclusions.
This highlights the need for further research to determine the most effective (combination of) interventions.
Are you interested in reading more about this study? You can find the free online full text version here!
> From: Hall et al., Physiotherapy 103 (2018-02-20 19:16:29) 361-368. All rights reserved to Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Click here for the online summary.
