Relationship between the independence level of individual motor-related functional independence measure items and its total score in patients after hip fracture: an ordinal logistic modelling study.
Yuki Uchiyama, Kazuhisa Domen, Masashi Katsutani and 1 others
PMID 35527845WHAT IT FOUND
After hip fracture surgery, walking and stair climbing remain the hardest tasks to recover.
If a patient still needs help eating or grooming, look for another cause, as these are rarely affected by the hip injury itself.
Key findings
01Locomotion and stair climbing were the most difficult FIM-motor items, with independence levels concentrated at the high end of the total score.
02Eating and grooming were the easiest items, with almost no patients scoring low levels of dependence.
03Transfers to bed/chair/wheelchair and toilet were proportionally associated with the total FIM-motor score, unlike bladder and bowel management.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small (40 patients). Participants were selected for good pre-fracture health, excluding those with dementia or severe comorbidities, so results may not apply to the general hip fracture population. Only patients with a first-ever hip fracture were included. The study design was retrospective and observational, so it describes associations rather than causal effects of treatment.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest, and the research received no specific funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that low scores in eating or grooming are due to the hip fracture itself. These tasks are rarely affected in this population, so such findings should prompt an investigation for other conditions.