Improvement in Patient Mobility Following Short-Term Rehabilitation in Skilled Nursing Facilities

Background: Mobility in older adults can be impaired after acute illness or hospitalization, and the level of severity can be used as a predictor of one’s ability to return to independent living. Patients are often referred to skilled nursing facilities in hopes of improving their mobility. We wanted to prove that rehabilitative services at Skilled Nursing Facilities improve overall outcomes. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of data from 4612 patients admitted for short-term rehabilitation in a large nursing home chain in California. Our aim was to determine whether patients’ mobility scores, as measured by rehabilitative staff, significantly improved by time of discharge compared to their scores at admission. Mobility scores were rated from 1 to 6, with 1 being the most dependent on aid and 6 being the most independent, over a variety of tasks at admission and compared to scores at discharge. Pearson’s correlations were performed to determine if there were significant relationships in the data: the Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to describe the relationships between patient admission to a skilled nursing facility and medical improvement upon discharge. Results: The study demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in patients’ mobility scores upon discharge, with Medicare insured patients showing on average 57% improvement and Managed Care insured patients showing on average 59% improvement. Additionally, admission scores appeared to be predictive of the patient’s outcome at discharge. Conclusions: The values and consistency of improvement support the use of acute rehabilitative services in skilled nursing facilities. An equation can be formulated that evaluates patients’ estimated mobility statuses upon discharge from facilities based on their conditions on their arrivals. With this, new interventions can be studied and compared to the current standard of care by using these measurements. They can determine if further improvements can be made to increase patient outcomes.