Relationship between frailty and discharge outcomes in subacute care

This paper determines whether level of frailty can predict length of stay, discharge destination, level of participation in physiotherapy, and degree of physical improvement with physiotherapy in older, subacute hospital patients. The Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS) was administered to 75 older people in a subacute hospital setting. Relationships between EFS score and a range of other measures, including participation in physiotherapy, Elderly Mobility Scale, discharge destination and length of stay, were examined. Level of frailty did not predict length of stay, discharge destination, raw change on the Elderly Mobility Scale or rate of change on the Elderly Mobility Scale. In addition, participants with a high level of frailty were more likely to achieve a satisfactory level of participation in physiotherapy sessions than those with low frailty.