The Huntingdon Day Hospital Trial: secondary outcome measures

Objective: To compare day hospital to day centre rehabilitation using scale s to measure mobility, activities of daily living and quality of life. Design: Single blind randomized controlled trial with home assessments at b aseline (twice), six weeks and three months. Setting: Mainly rural health district. Day hospital and social services day centres in market towns. Interventions: Day hospital treatment or day centre rehabilitation by a phy siotherapist and two health support workers. Main outcome measures: World Health Organization mobility scale scored with and without aid, Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living Scale and Nottingham Health Profile, Subjects: One hundred and five physically disabled older patients living at home referred for day hospital rehabilitation or maintenance before discha rge from hospital (66) or referred as outpatients (39). Results: At three months there were no statistically significant difference s between rehabilitation at day hospital and day centre for any of the outc ome measurements. However, there were significant improvements between base line and three months for the following subscales [mean change per six-week period (95% confidence interval) ]: WHO mobility subscale (with aid) -0.67 (-0.99,-0.35); Nottingham Health Profile mobility subscale -10 (-15.5,-4.5 ) Nottingham extended ADL mobility subscale +3.08 (1.78,4.37); Nottingham e xtended ADL leisure subscale +1.66 (0.96,2.36). Conclusion: There were no differences between day hospital and day centre i n the outcomes measured. Day rehabilitation appeared to improve functional ability and mobility and scales reflecting these domains deserve further ev aluation as outcome measures in this patient group. However, no improvement in quality of life was observed.