High Intensity Physiotherapy for Hip Fractures in the Acute Hospital Setting

Every day, more than 40 Australian break their hip, Most are over the age of sixty five. Hip fractures are a significant problem for the older people, the hospital system and community as a whole because of the increasing numbers of fractures and the cost of hospitalisation and ongoing care. After one year, less than half of all people with a hip fracture can walk as well as they did before the fracture. Physiotherapy in the acute hospital setting is an integral part of patient care, although the intensity of physiotherapy a patient receives is variable and the optimal number of treatment sessions per day remains unknown. Studies in other patient groups have shown that increased physiotherapy can improve patient outcomes by increasing muscle strength and mobility. It can also reduce the negative effects of bed rest such as muscle wasting, blood clots in the lungs or leg veins and chest infections such as pneumonia. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of an intensive physiotherapy program in hip fracture patients to further understand this and the effect it has on patient function.

In this research the investigators will randomly allocate patients into 2 groups; usual care and intensive physiotherapy. The usual care group will have physiotherapy treatment daily whereas the intensive physiotherapy group will have an additional daily treatment by a physiotherapist as well as a daily treatment by an allied health assistant. The objectives are to achieve better functional outcomes in the patient's hospital stay (ie improved mobility), reduce the time for patients to be physically ready to go home, increase the number of patients able to go directly home or to fast stream rehabilitation (rather than a slow stream option).

If increased intensity of physiotherapy is found to improve patient's mobility outcomes, this research will provide the confidence to endorse a change to current clinical practice.