Evaluation of post-acute care and one-year outcomes among Medicare beneficiaries with hip fractures: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Post-acute care (PAC) services after hospitalization for hip fracture are typically provided in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), or at home via home health care (HHC). Little is known about the clinical course following PAC for hip fracture. We examined the nationwide burden of adverse outcomes by PAC setting in the year following discharge from PAC for hip fracture. METHODS: This retrospective cohort included Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries > 65 years who received PAC services in U.S. SNFs, IRFs, or HHC following hip fracture hospitalization between 2012 and 2018. Individuals who had a fall-related injury (FRI) during PAC or received PAC services in multiple settings were excluded. Primary outcomes included FRIs, all-cause hospital readmissions, and death in the year following discharge from PAC. Cumulative incidences and incidence rates for adverse outcomes were reported by PAC setting. Exploratory analyses examined risk ratios and hazard ratios between settings before and after inverse-probability-of-treatment-weighting, which accounted for 43 covariates. RESULTS: Among 624,631 participants (SNF, 67.78%; IRF, 16.08%; HHC, 16.15%), the mean (standard deviation) age was 82.70 (8.26) years, 74.96% were female, and 91.30% were non-Hispanic White. Crude incidence rates (95%CLs) per 1000 person-years were highest among individuals receiving SNF care for FRIs (SNF, 123 [121, 123]; IRF, 105 [102, 107]; HHC, 89 [87, 91]), hospital readmission (SNF, 623 [619, 626]; IRF, 538 [532, 544]; HHC, 418 [414, 423]), and death (SNF, 167 [165, 169]; IRF, 47 [46, 49]; HHC, 55 [53, 56]). Overall, rates of adverse outcomes generally remained higher among SNF care recipients after covariate adjustment. However, inferences about the group with greater adverse outcomes differed for FRIs and hospital readmissions based on risk ratio or hazard ratio estimates. CONCLUSIONS: In this retrospective cohort study of individuals hospitalized for hip fracture, rates of adverse outcomes in the year following PAC were common, especially among SNF care recipients. Understanding risks and rates of adverse events can inform future efforts to improve outcomes for older adults receiving PAC for hip fracture. Future work should consider calculating risk and rate measures to assess the influence of differential time under observation across PAC groups. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12916-023-02958-9.