Odds lower for discharge to skilled nursing facility, but no difference seen in length of stay or having inpatient fall
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, June 6, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For veterans admitted to the hospitals, a supervised walking program, AssiSTed EaRly MobIlity for HospitalizeD Veterans (STRIDE), is associated with lower odds of discharge to a skilled nursing facility (SNF), according to a study published online June 6 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Susan N. Hastings, M.D., from the Durham VA Health Care System in North Carolina, and colleagues examined the effect of implementation of a supervised walking program on discharge to an SNF, length of stay, and inpatient falls in a cluster randomized trial involving patients aged 60 years or older admitted for two or more days to a participating medicine ward. Patients were similar in the pre-STRIDE and post-STRIDE time periods (6,722 and 6,141 patients, respectively).
The researchers found that per hospital, the proportion of patients with any documented walk during a potentially eligible hospitalization varied from 0.6 to 22.7 percent. The estimated rates of discharge to an SNF were 13 and 8 percent pre- and post-STRIDE, respectively. The odds of discharge to an SNF were lower among eligible patients hospitalized in post-STRIDE time periods versus pre-STRIDE (odds ratio, 0.6). No differences were seen in length of stay or inpatient falls.
“Health systems should consider hospital walking programs as a reasonable means to improve quality of care for older adults,” the authors write.
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