A Saturday physiotherapy service may decrease length of stay in patients undergoing rehabilitation in hospital: a randomised controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE
Is additional Saturday physiotherapy intervention beneficial for inpatients undergoing rehabilitation?


METHODS
Randomised controlled trial with concealed allocation, assessor blinding, and intention-to-treat analysis.


METHODS
Two hundred and sixty-two inpatients undergoing rehabilitation in an Australian metropolitan hospital.


METHODS
The experimental group received physiotherapy intervention from Monday to Saturday and the control group from Monday to Friday.


METHODS
Primary outcomes were hospital and physiotherapy length of stay. Secondary measures were collected to reflect patient outcomes (health state, independence, activity, flexibility and strength) and burden of care (discharge destination, adverse events, and follow-up physiotherapy intervention).


RESULTS
There was a 3.2 day reduction for the experimental group (95% CI -0.5 to 6.9) in hospital length of stay and a 2.5 day reduction (95% CI -0.9 to 5.9) in physiotherapy length of stay. There was no significant between-group difference in change from admission to discharge for most of the secondary patient outcomes (health state, independence, activity, flexibility). The risk of the experimental group being categorised as strong relative to the control group was 1.2 (95% CI 0.99 to 1.50). The risk of not being discharged home, of having an adverse event, or requiring follow-up physiotherapy intervention was no greater for the experimental group than the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
The provision of additional Saturday physiotherapy intervention resulted in a trend to shorter hospital and physiotherapy length of stay without affecting patient outcome unfavourably or increasing burden of care, suggesting that a larger multicentre trial is warranted.
Brusco
Natasha K
NK
La Trobe University, Australia. tash.brusco@easternhealth.org.au
Shields
Nora
N
Taylor
Nicjolas F
NF
Paratz
Jennifer
J
D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010814:Physical Therapy Department, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors; D000078329:Workforce