Enhanced Rehabilitation Targeting Strength and Movement Pattern Symmetry Following Hip Fracture

Hip fracture is a major public health concern in the United States. Fall-related injuries constitute the leading cause of deaths and disabilities among persons over age 65 years. Hip fracture is consistently identified as one of the most frequent, costly, and devastating non-lethal injuries from a fall. Rehabilitation after hip fracture remains largely unchanged over the last 30 years despite evidence that high-intensity rehabilitation can benefit physical function after hip fracture beyond the recovery typical with "usual care".

Asymmetries demonstrated in physical performance of various tasks, such as gait, balance, and a sit-to-stand transfer, and impaired surgical limb muscle function are evident for years after hip fracture, and may contribute to the high rate of falls and declining function typically encountered by older adults recovering from hip fracture. Implementing a high-intensity rehabilitation approach targeting asymmetries after hip fracture is likely to yield improved symmetry in both physical function and muscle function. This study will recruit older adults who have recently incurred a hip fracture and completed "usual care" physical therapy to determine whether a high-intensity rehabilitation strategy targeting asymmetries in movement strategies and muscle function of the surgical limb can be successfully implemented in this challenging population. In particular, recruitment, adherence to rehab protocol parameters, and retention will be addressed among those who initiate high-resistance training at approximately 8-12wk after hip fracture incidence.

In addition, the investigators will explore the potential of targeted unilaterally-biased resistance training to improve surgical limb function and performance after hip fracture. Specifically, physical performance, muscle function, and muscle quality/composition are recorded and compared pre-/post-training to determine whether improvements occur in conjunction with high-intensity rehabilitation training. Additionally, the investigators will measure improvements in muscle composition that occur as a result of this high-intensity resistance training.