THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DURATION OF PHYSICAL THERAPY SERVICES IN THEACUTE-CARE SETTING AND CHANGE IN FUNCTIONAL STATUS IN PATIENTS WITH LOWER-EXTREMITY ORTHOPEDIC PROBLEMS

Background and Purpose. This study examined the relationship between t he duration of physical therapy and functional status at discharge. Su bjects. The subjects were 173 inpatients, with a mean age of 67.9 year s (SD=20.5, range=18-101), referred to physical therapy with lower-ext remity orthopedic problems. Methods. For this retrospective cohort stu dy, medical and physical therapy quality assurance records were used. Functional status, at initiation of and discharge from physical therap y, was measured using tile Acute Care Index of Function (ACIF). The AC IF scores, which ranged from 0 to 100, were obtained from quality assu rance records. The duration of physical therapy was the number of minu tes of physical therapy billed to each patient, as determined fi-om bi lling records. Results. Subjects received an average of 238.5 minutes of physical therapy (SD=153.6, range=15-1,110). Function improved an a verage of 15.4 points (SD=17.0, range=-27.4 to 64.9), and the duration of physical therapy was an important predictor of functional status a t discharge after controlling for age, length of hospitalization, numb er of diagnoses, and initial functional status. Conclusion and Discuss ion. This study provides evidence that tile amount of physical therapy thar patients with some types of orthopedic problems receive is direc tly related to the functional improvement that occurs during hospitali zation in an acute care setting.