title: Pre-discharge home visits by occupational therapists completed for patients following hip fracture.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Home visits by occupational therapists are a routine part of practice, but there remains little understanding about factors that are associated with the decision to complete a home visit. The aim of this study was to investigate the rate of pre-discharge home visits by occupational therapists for patients following hip fracture and explore factors associated with their occurrence.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective cohort study including 293 patients admitted to a metropolitan health service following hip fracture. Multi-variate logistic regression was used to identify significant variables associated with receiving a home visit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Home visits were conducted by occupational therapists for 28% of patients admitted from a private residence, and for less than 5% of patients admitted from low-level residential care facilities. The variables significantly associated with receiving a home visit at a private residence were older age and being admitted to a rehabilitation ward, but the model only explained between 9% and 13% of the variance. Other clinical and socio-demographic variables evaluated were not associated with the provision of a home visit.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  About one in four people admitted to hospital from a private residence following hip fracture receive a home visit. The results suggest that whether or not a patient receives a home visit has little to do with socio-demographic or clinical factors at the time of admission to hospital. There remains much unexplained variation in whether or not a patient receives a home visit and this study highlights the diversity that exists in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: School of Allied Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Allied Health Clinical Research Office, Eastern Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Kylee J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Lockwood
authors.affiliation: School of Allied Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.|Allied Health Clinical Research Office, Eastern Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Nicholas F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, Eastern Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Jude N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.affiliation: Allied Health Clinical Research Office, Eastern Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Katherine E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Harding
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000601:surgery; D006792:House Calls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: audit; hip fracture; home visit; occupational therapy